


Through the Trees

by ghostlycryptid



Category: Creepypasta - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Best Friends, Blood and Gore, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Gen, Headcanon, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Misogyny, Origin Story, Panic Attacks, Past Sexual Abuse, Physical Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, platonic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-11 23:47:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 33,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28750914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostlycryptid/pseuds/ghostlycryptid
Summary: When renowned serial killer Jeffery Woods goes out for a kill spree, he doesn't expect his life to change. He lives with a blind organ eater, a hellhound who somehow drives people to insanity, and a creature with a name that means "baby eater." His life can't get any weirder, right?Well, he's instantly proven wrong when he gets chased down by police and finds himself in the middle of the woods with somebody other that a cop. Somebody who doesn't appear to be human at all.The... thing introduces himself as Ben, a supposed ghost who's "on the run" from something too, although Jeff isn't sure what. But it's definitely not law enforcement.After trying to avoid Ben and being unsuccessful, he finally caves and lets him stick around for a while, realizing that they might have a lot more in common than he originally thought. Together, they evade capture and learn much more about each other than they thought they would. But just how attached is Jeff going to get to this guy? And why does he remind him of someone he was close to?Mysteries such as that and more will be unveiled in this story.« New updates every Sunday »THIS IS NOT JEFF X BEN
Relationships: Eyeless Jack/Lost Silver, Jeffrey Woods | Jeff the Killer & Ben (BEN Drowned)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 8





	1. Blood (Gallons of the Stuff)

**Author's Note:**

> Content warnings if for whatever reason you decided not to read the tags:
> 
> • Blood n gore (Like... a lot)  
> • Swearing/strong language   
> • Mentions/implications of abuse (physical, psychological, and sexual)  
> • Misogynistic thoughts/attitude  
> • Fictional characters being jerks
> 
> Also this’ll be based on my own personal headcanons/takes on the character’s stories, so please do not comment stuff like “But that’s not what happened in [character name]’s story!” Or anything along those lines. Thank you.
> 
> Alright, I hope you enjoy reading this! <3

Jeff swiftly moved to the side in order to dodge the punch, putting his arms in front of him order to block any further attacks. He backed away from the half-demon and got into a fighting stance, knife in hand. The killer charged at him, his speed catching Eyeless Jack by surprise. Before he could do anything else, Jeff tackled him to the ground, both of them hitting the leaf-covered forest floor with a loud thud. The killer kneeled on his chest, the blade of his knife pointed right above EJ's throat. Jeff brought the knife down until it just barely touched the demon's flesh before stopping suddenly, letting the sharp point hover above him. 

"Presto. You're dead." Jeff muttered. A sharp-toothed grin slowly began to form on EJ's face. 

"Damn... I think that was the quickest you've taken me down yet!" He said, reaching up and patting the killer's back. Jeff carefully got off of him and stood up, pocketing his knife. 

"That's 'cause I'm fuckin' awesome." He said, allowing a cocky smile to spread across his pale face. 

EJ got up as well, playfully shoving Jeff by the head. "Stop being so full of yourself, it's the reason no one but me will tolerate you." He said jokingly. Jeff laughed, running a hand through his long, now messy black hair. "Yeah, it's too bad that no one else in the Under Realm can tolerate my talented ass."

"You mean your annoying ass." EJ said, grabbing his blue, slightly battered mask that had fallen off partway through the training session. He placed the wooden mask over his face, his grey skin and empty black eye sockets now invisible to outsiders. He began to walk in the direction of their house, going slowly so that Jeff could catch up to him. 

They made their way through the Under Realm's forest in silence, EJ listening to their surroundings intently and Jeff gazing around at the foggy air, mind wandering. 

Their home was a small, slightly run-down looking cabin in the middle of the woods complete with a small front porch, a back door, two stories and a basement. It was the perfect size for two to three people and a few pets to live in, meaning it was perfect for the half-demon and his murderous companion. It didn't look too terribly homey, but it was home to them and that was perfect. 

EJ stepped onto the porch and opened the door, the light skittering of clawed paws being heard from inside the house as the door swung open. The two men entered and were greeted to a large hellhound and husky mix bounding down the stairs, excited that his owners were home. 

"Hey, Smile!" Jeff said happily. He allowed the dog to jump on top of him and lick his face, causing the killer to laugh slightly. "Hey, hey, watch the scars!"

Smile got down and, exactly like his namesake, grinned at the man, his tongue sticking out of his mouth like any typical dog. Jeff smiled and pet the canine's head. 

"How've you been, buddy?" He said affectionately. Smile barked in reply, wagging his tail in excitement. 

"Bagel Bites okay for dinner?" EJ asked.

Jeff gave him a skeptical look. "How do I know you're not gonna burn the house down like ya almost did last time you tried making dinner?" He said with a smirk. 

"I told you, I swore I would never try making noodles again!" EJ said.

"You managed to make a boiling pot of water burst into fucking flames!" Jeff reminded him. 

"That was one time!" 

"One time too many!" 

"Alright, alright, how about this: I'm banning myself from using the stove unless you or somebody else is in the kitchen with me. How's that?" 

"You're gonna ignore that rule at some point, I know you are." 

"Hey, my house, my rules!" 

Jeff rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Mom." 

"Call me Mom again and you're grounded." EJ said jokingly. As he opened the freezer, he began feeling around for the box of bagel bites. He finally found them and moved away from the fridge, opening the box carefully. 

Jeff moved past him and opened the fridge door, peering inside. It had a couple of things in it; apples, water bottles, organ jars, eggs, human limbs, cheese - the usual. Jeff grabbed a ziplock bag containing a human arm and a jar packed tight with eyeballs and shut the door. 

"I'm gonna go give them their dinner. Don't start a fucking fire this time!" Jeff said. 

"Well, aren't you bossy!" EJ said with slight sass. 

Jeff moved the jar into the crook of his elbow and flipped him off.

"You're giving me the finger, aren't you?"

"How the fuck did you know?"

"Hey - I'm blind, not stupid." 

"Tch..." 

🥀╔═════ °• ♔ •° ═════╗🥀  
The rest of this chapter from this point forward contains descriptions of gore and organs throughout the paragraphs. Read at your own risk.  
🥀╚═════ °• ♔ •° ═════╝🥀

Jeff opened the back door, Smile following close behind. He barked excitedly as he saw the fresh arm dangling from the bag in Jeff's hand.

"I know, you're hungry. But ya gotta eat it out here with Seed, last time we let ya eat inside ya left a chunk of your dinner under the couch and attracted a bunch of maggots. We don't want that to happen again, so wait a damn minute." 

Smile calmed down in understanding, slowing to a trot beside the killer. They walked through the back yard and towards the shed, which had a large awning that Jeff and EJ had built themselves right beside it. Underneath the awning was Seed, their gigantic pet Seedeater. 

Her large head tilted up once she heard the killer's footsteps approaching. She let out a low cooing sort of noise, showing him that she was happy. 

"'Sup, Seed." Jeff said as he stepped under the awning. He gave her side a pat, running his hand through her long black fur. He set the jar of eyes down on a nearby wooden box and unzipped the bag containing the arm. He picked it up with his bare hands and waved it in front of Smile. The dog's eyes brightened and he crouched down, his lower half high in the air as his tail wagged happily. Jeff grinned before throwing the arm up into the air, watching as blood dripped off of it and into the air before settling on the leaf-covered dirt ground. Smile jumped up almost gracefully and snatched the limb in his jaws, biting down on it instantly. He then used his paws to move it around as he began gnawing away at the flesh and muscle. 

Jeff then turned to Seed, grabbing the eye jar and walking over to a steel bucket. It had been cleaned by EJ last time he had fed her, so he didn't have to worry about bits of dried blood or anything like that possibly making her sick. He opened the lid of the jar, cringing as the scent of preserved optical organs wafted into the air. He dumped about less than half of the large jar into the bucket, hearing Seed begin to move closer to him from behind. Suddenly, the killer felt something push against his back, nearly making him stumble and drop the jar. 

"Ah-!" He yelled, startled. Luckily, he was able to steady himself and catch the jar before it fell. He turned around, an angry look on his face. Seed had pressed her long, deer skull-like head into his back as a form of messing with him, something she did often when it was Jeff doing the feeding. With EJ, she never played rough like this, but with Jeff? It was constant. Jeff assumed it was because Seed preferred EJ over him, something that couldn't be more obvious due to the fact that when EJ wasn't busy or doing something with Jeff, he was usually spending time with her. 

Jeff glared at Seed, who was now looking off to the side in an attempt to play innocent. Her hollow eyes to anyone who wasn't from the Under Realm wouldn't seem like it, but Jeff had known this creature for almost 3 years now. He knew exactly what she was doing. 

"How many times have I told you not to fuckin' do that?!" He said, frustrated but also smiling slightly. Seed snorted. 

"Hey, I'm the one feeding your ass! Be nice or I'm gonna tamper with it next time it's my turn!" He threatened. He moved away from the bucket and allowed Seed to come forward. She dipped her long, almost beak-like mouth into the bucket and began to eat, a chorus of squelching sounds soon becoming audible as the eyeballs were crushed against her sharp teeth. 

His job done, Jeff made his way back into the house, thankful that the kitchen didn't smell like it was about to burn down. EJ was sitting at the table, a plate with one raw human kidney in front of him. The other one was currently in his hand and being eaten by the half demon, blood bursting from the organ like juice would from a fruit and dripping down his chin as he bit into it. 

"There's still about five minutes left on the Bites." EJ said after swallowing. Jeff began to move towards the oven and was about to open it to check on them.

"Wash your hands first." EJ called sternly just as Jeff's hand was hovering over the handle. Jeff rolled his eyes and made his way over to the sink. 

"You did good with training today." EJ commented after taking another bite. "You actually kind of caught me off guard at the end with that tackle."

"Did I?" Jeff said, drying his now wet hands off with a nearby dish towel. 

"Mhm." EJ replied. "I'd say you're getting better each day, but I'd hate to fuel that narcissistic god complex of yours." 

"Oh please. I do not have a fucking god complex." The killer said.

"Yeah, and I have 20/20 vision." EJ said. Jeff snickered at this. 

"Hey, what if I spontaneously decided to go on a kill spree tonight?" Jeff asked. 

EJ swallowed another bite of kidney. "Didn't you just go on one two nights ago?" He asked. 

"Yeah, but you made me go with Toby and Pup! They almost got us all caught last time!" Jeff complained. "I wanted to go on one alone."

"Jeff, you know what happened last time I let you go alone?" 

"Yeah, but-!" 

"I don't want you to pull another stunt like that again. Slender found you, and afterwards I found you in the woods impaled by a tree branch. Another encounter like that and you'll be dead."

Jeff rolled his eyes. "Jack, that was months ago! Ya gotta trust me now, right?" 

EJ gave him a doubtful look. 

Jeff gave a frustrated sigh. "Fine. But I'm only listening because I don't want Slender to beat my ass into the ground again for saying no." 

EJ gave a single nod. "That's what I thought."

Ding!

"Dinner's ready." EJ said, continuing to eat his meal in peace. 

~~~

Jeff stared at the bathroom mirror, frowning. He was now bored and didn't know what to do with himself, so he figured he'd clean out his smile once again. He checked it to make sure it didn't need recutting before taking a q-tip and swabbing it in between the slits, making sure to get any residue from dinner and other meals out of his cheeks. Once that was done, he threw the now gunk-covered q-tip into the nearby trash can. He then looked at himself once again, eyeing his appearance. 

His skin was pale due to an odd reaction to bleach, alcohol, and fire he'd had from an incident long ago that had forever changed him. He had pale blue eyes which were usually outlined in some form of dark eyeliner or eyeshadow if he wasn't feeling lazy. Apparently there was a rumor going around the internet that stated he had burned his eyelids off when he'd killed his parents, something Jeff found ridiculous. Everyone knows that if you were to get rid of your eyelids, you'd go blind within a few days. Then how would he see his beautiful self? He wouldn't be able to look at that sexy face with those piercings that dotted his ears, tongue, and eyebrow. Those badass scars that were on his face from various fights and battles with other monsters. And - his most identifying trait - his large, cerise smile that he himself had carved into his face all those years ago just before he'd committed his first murder. He would recut it every now and then to make sure it didn't close up on him, so if he wanted to he could stick his tongue out through the slices in his cheeks and disgust the hell out of everyone he showed it to. 

He smiled at himself. 'God damn, do I look good.' He thought. 'Even without makeup, I'm still a sexy beast, it's no wonder I have so many fan girls that wanna-!'

There was a sudden knock at the door, pulling Jeff from his train of thought. He turned his head towards the door, slightly annoyed. 

"Yeah?" He called out.

The door swung open and there stood EJ, mask on with a large black duffel bag around his shoulders. "I'm going harvesting in the Over Realm. Is there anything that you need from up there while I'm gone?" He asked, his voice slightly muffled due to the mask. 

"Nah, I'm good." Jeff said, shaking his head. "I'm probably just gonna go to bed, training kinda wore me out."

EJ tilted his head and Jeff could imagine him looking at him skeptically. "Promise that's all you're gonna do?" 

Jeff rolled his eyes. "Yes, Mom. I'm a good boy, I'll stay home." He said sarcastically. 

"If I find out that you snuck out anyway-!" 

"Jack, I won't I promise." 

"Swear it?" 

"Yes! Now go, do your shit." 

EJ sighed. "Alright... stay out of trouble. And I mean it when I say don't leave the house!" 

"Got it." Jeff said, pointing finger guns in his direction. 

"Okay. I'll be back by morning. You'll probably already be asleep by then, but I'm telling you anyway." EJ said, turning around and beginning to make his way down the stairs. 

"Have fun." Jeff said duly. 

EJ lifted a hand up to wave at the killer as he descended the stairs. A few minutes later, Jeff heard the creak and click of the back door opening and closing. He's taking Seed with him, too...

Perfect. Now she can't catch me either. 

Jeff grinned, making his way into his bedroom. He approached his wardrobe and opened the drawer containing his collection of over 20 knives, varying in size, shape, and sharpness. 

"'Stay home' he says." Jeff muttered mockingly to himself and he dug around the drawer. "'Don't go out,' he says."

He slowly pulled a long, large, sharp butcher's knife out from the pile, the shiny blade reflecting Jeff's face almost perfectly. 

"Well, he seems to have forgotten that I don't like following the rules." 

~~~ 

About two hours later, Jeff was standing in the backyard of a residential house in a small town in Maryland. EJ had said that he was going to be somewhere in Michigan, which was miles away from Maryland. Perfect. 

He had decided to wear his trademark white hoodie for this, complete with a pair of black skinny jeans, a black band T-Shirt, and a pair of black converse. He has also brought his phone and earbuds (to make the walk there less boring), his wallet (in case he had to bribe someone into silence with money, a common occurrence for the killer), and of course, his trusty butcher's knife. He also had a small hunting knife that he kept in a hilt on his belt that he used as a backup when situations were messy. 

Jeff took a deep breath, taking in the smell of the crisp night air from the Over Realm. Finally. He was alone. He hardly ever got to do kill sprees on his own anymore, what with EJ acting like an overprotective mother towards him all the time. Ever since he'd taken him in nearly 5 years ago, the half-demon had become a sort of parental figure for the killer. It had been perfect, really - a 14 year old baby serial killer who was trying to learn how to control his blood lust and cope with life on the streets running into a 20-something year old med student-turned-blind monster who feasted on human organs. While he may not have been the best role model to any other human, he was the perfect guardian for Jeff. He was a major upgrade from his parents, too. They had been far too close minded with a lot of things, whereas EJ was much more laid back when it came to certain subjects such as music taste and sexuality. 

Jeff eyed the house, making sure that all of the lights were off, meaning that the home owners were asleep. He could see darkness in each and every window of the two-story building. He then saw a sliding glass door that led into the backyard. It may not have given way to the quietest entry, but it was the quickest and easiest. 

One rock and the glorious sound of shattering glass later, Jeff was inside the house. 

He had paused for a brief moment before entering to ensure that the couple who lived here - yes, couple, he'd done research on the them via Facebook before coming - hadn't heard the smash. He crept up the stairs, trying to resist the urge to let out a quiet giggle due to his excitement and anticipation. He took a quick look around the area once he got to the second floor - there was a loft, complete with a small movie theatre-like set up with armchairs and a large TV. There was a window to the right of this setup and next to the window, a hall lined with three doors. 

Jeff opened the first door and peered inside. It was a bathroom, nothing exciting. He closed it and moved on to the second door. This showed what appeared to be a guest bedroom, for there was a large bed but no one sleeping in it. He then moved on to the third door in the hall. 

Bingo.

There was a young man and a young woman asleep in a large bed, cuddled close to one another. The room was dark aside from the green light of their digital alarm clock, displaying the current time as 4:23 in the morning. Jeff smiled. 

'Time for the fun part.'

He made his way over to the bed, careful not to wake the couple just yet. They guy's arms were wrapped around the girl's waist, his face buried in the crook of her neck. Their eyes were shut peacefully and they appeared to be very much in love.

'Aw, that's cute.' Jeff thought. 'Would be a shame if someone were to disrupt the peace.'

'Oh wait. That's why I'm here.'

He quietly snickered to himself, pulling his knife out of his pocket. His heart pounded with anticipation, giddy with excitement. He leaned in close towards the guy, a mad grin spreading across his face. He stopped once his face was right next to the guy's cheek, hovering just above his ear. 

"Hey." He whispered loudly. The man shifted slightly, but didn't wake up. 

"Hey." Jeff said in a normal tone of voice, no longer whispering. The man's eyes opened groggily and he yawned. He moved his arms away from his lover and blinked the sleep out of his eyes before looking off to the side to find the source of the strange voice, of which Jeff assumed he thought was from a dream. 

The man saw Jeff and his eyes widened in fear. 

"Hi." Jeff said with a smile. 

The man sat up and opened his mouth to scream but before he could even use his voice, Jeff suddenly plunged his knife into the man's chest. The action left the man in shock, unable to speak. He looked down at the blade buried inside of him, mouth agape in horror. 

"Ah, ah, ah!~" Jeff said in a sing-song voice. "We can't have you alerting the neighbors now, can we?" 

He covered the man's mouth with his free hand and dragged the blade down, making sickening cracking and squelching sounds as the blade tore through flesh and cracked bone. This caused the man to let out these weird whines that sounded as though he had had a sore throat for the past few days. The sound of it all was music to Jeff's ears. He stopped once he got to the man's stomach, twisting the knife before violently yanking it out, spraying blood all over the sheets and on his already slightly stained hoodie. 

"Aw, man! I just washed this..." Jeff said as he looked down at the crimson liquid being absorbed by the fabric. He shrugged. "Eh, whatever. It looks better this way anyway." He said with a smile. 

The man had already lost a lot of blood and was starting to drift into unconsciousness, his eyes gradually beginning to roll into the back of his head. Jeff smiled at this and grabbed onto the man's shoulders, eyeing his dying body. 

"Hm... wonder what else I can do you make you a little more messy..." Jeff said thoughtfully. His eyes then landed on the man's throat. He smiled like a true madman and pressed the blade of his knife against the man's throat, slowly dragging it across the flesh. He watched as the man's already strangled screams died away as blood began to pour out of the deep slice in his jugular, the thick liquid staining his clothes, skin, and sheets like spilled soda on carpet. 

"Mm... Dean?" 

The woman had just now started to stir due to the absence of her partner's arms around her. Jeff looked at her, amazed at how she was able to sleep through everything he'd just done. She slowly began to sit up, her face scrunching up in confusion once she touched the damp, blood-covered sheets. 

"Look alive, sunshine." Jeff said with a grin. The woman's eyes widened the moment she saw Jeff, a look of horror crossing her features once she saw the state of her boyfriend next to her. She let out a terrified scream, covering her now shaking hands with her mouth.

"Shut the fuck up and go to sleep!" Jeff yelled as he grabbed her by the hair and plunged the knife into the front of her skull, her screaming stopping immediately. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, her mouth wide open in shock and horror. Her trembling hands slowly fell away and her body went limp, slumping up against the killer. Jeff pressed the palm of his hand against the knife, forming a sort of L shape around the knife and forcefully yanking it out. Blood once again splattered all over, covering his hoodie in more scarlet droplets. He then laid her body next to her partner's. He eyed their corpses, dissatisfied. 

"Hm... could be gorier." He said out loud. He looked down at his knife, then back at the corpses before smiling widely, immediately going to work.

A short while later, Jeff stood over the bodies and admired the crime scene he'd just created. Several of the couple's fingers had stab marks in them from where he'd played the Knife Game with each of their hands. He'd decided to gut the woman, her intestines now on full display for the cops to find. Blood was obviously all over the sheets, forever staining their once white perfection. Of course, no murder of his would be complete without his calling card - a fresh, grotesque smile carved into both of their faces, now matching his. 

"Now this..." Jeff said, pointing his knife at the bodies. "This is what they call art!" He said excitedly. He then leaned in close to the bodies, pocketing his knife momentarily and leaning in to whisper into the man's ear.

"Hope you're having sweet dreams..." He whispered, laughing maniacally after saying so. His laugh was like something you would hear from a crazed villain in a movie - malice-filled, evil, and spine-chilling to the core. He cackled with glee as he gazed down at his work, happy with himself. 

'And EJ assumed I couldn't handle myself!' He thought triumphantly. 'Well, I fuckin' showed him! Oh, I can't wait to turn on the news tomorrow and see th-!'

Jeff's inner train of thought stopped as he heard something in the distance. Something that struck panic into the hearts of he and any other criminal that ever existed, no matter how high the crime they'd committed was. He turned towards the bedroom door, eyes wide. 

They were approaching police sirens.


	2. Eyes Like Broken Christmas Lights

"Shit..." Jeff muttered as the sirens got louder. He knew he probably should've looked for a quieter way inside. He knew that the houses around them had probably heard the door shattering and woman screaming and called 911 after possibly seeing the smashed glass. And here he thought he wasn't going to get caught. Curse him and his cocky nature. 

'Stupid fuckin' neighbors...' He thought to himself, frustrated. The killer looked around the area, checking to make sure he wasn't leaving anything important behind. He rubbed the blood off of his knife and stuffed it in his pocket, making sure his other belongings were in there too. He was good to go. 

Jeff quickly took his not-so white hoodie off, knowing if he kept it on it would be like strapping a neon sign to his back that said "I'm here! Come arrest me!" as he made his escape. He tied it around his waist and moved out of the bedroom to the window in the loft as quickly as possible, trying to avoid being seen from any of the front windows. The window was unlocked but it had one of those stupid insect screens over it that were ridiculously hard to remove, meaning more work for the killer. 

"Motherfucker... I don't have time for this shit...!" He muttered as he took out his backup knife and began slicing a hole in the screen large enough for him to crawl through. He managed to succeed and began crawling out of the window leg first, his now exposed arms gaining several tiny cuts as they brushed against the now jagged mesh edges. Jeff ignored the pain, the combination of adrenaline and emotional frustration partially numbing it to the point where he couldn't feel it. He dropped out of the window and onto the ground, once again ignoring the pain that shot through his ankles upon impact. It was only a jump from the second story, so nothing was broken, but the force of the fall was still pretty intense. 

The moment his feet hit the ground, Jeff sprinted through the backyard just as the flashes of red and blue lights were becoming visible. He could see them shining on the grass beneath him as he sprinted towards the forest, thanking whatever higher being that existed that he'd made it this far. He was just about to make it into the trees when he heard a voice yell from behind him;

"He's headed for the woods!"

'Shit shit shit shit shit-!' Jeff thought as he continued running. He got to the forest but didn't stop, for he could now hear the sound of two, maybe three police officer's footsteps pursuing him. If he could hear them, then that meant that they were close. Too close.

The killer continued to run, not stopping even once. He didn't even think, he just moved, focusing on putting as much distance between himself and the cops as possible. It wasn't until he was deep into the woods - as in, no-other-civilization-in-sight deep - that he realized he couldn't hear the officer's footsteps anymore. Hell, he couldn't even hear their voices or see the flashing lights anymore. 

After what felt like hours of aimlessly sprinting through the forest, Jeff finally slowed down, stopping to catch his breath. He looked around at his surroundings, double checking to make sure he really had lost the cops. Darkness surrounded him, no flashlights or evidence of humans being near could be seen. He could only see the faint outline of trees and branches around him. 

He let out a sigh of relief. He was this far into the woods, there was no way they could catch him now! All he had to do now was find the portal that would take him back to the Under Realm and-!

snap

The sound of a tree branch breaking to the killer's left made his train of thought stop immediately. He whirled his head around in that direction and could see the outline of a person standing a few feet away from him. Jeff froze, unsure if the person had seen him or not. He couldn't make out any particular details about the person aside from the fact that they were short, they couldn't have been more than 5 feet tall. He could probably take them in a fight if he needed to. 

Slowly, Jeff crouched down to the ground, completely silent. The person appeared to be looking around, their back facing the killer. Jeff used this opportunity to move ever so slowly behind a nearby tree, the only sound he made being the rustling of the foliage around him brushing against his body. The person still hadn't reacted to him at all. 

Jeff watched them, waiting for them to just go away. They didn't appear to be a cop, otherwise they would have their flashlight on and be moving around, but this guy or girl or whatever was just standing there. Jeff heard them let out a sigh before they turned their head and began walking to the killer's left, around the tree. 

When the person turned around, Jeff was instantly caught off guard. Either he was hallucinating or the person was wearing some kind of crazy light-up sunglasses or something because where their eyes were at, there were two glowing red dots. They were like Christmas lights, glowing bright but not so bright that they hurt your eyes. The soft crimson glow did nothing to illuminate the person's face, so Jeff still couldn't make out any other details about this person, but he wouldn't deny that it was weird. 

Just as the mystery person was walking away, Jeff heard a light thud from right next to him. The killer looked down and saw that his knife had fallen out of his pocket and was now laying on the ground beside him. Jeff froze and held his breath, knowing that the person had definitely heard that. 

'Fuck me gently with a chainsaw...' Jeff thought to himself. He glanced upwards, his body still partially hidden by the tree. The glowing dots were now facing his direction, searching for the source of the sound. They seemed to be staring directly at the killer, like they were staring into his soul. There was no way they couldn't see him, he still had his bloodstained hoodie tied around his waist and his pale arms were also exposed. They were like beacons of light compared to the darkness they were shrouded in. He was done for. 

Then, to his surprise, the person started walking away again. Like they hadn't even seen the killer, which was highly unlikely. They hadn't even said anything, they just began moving away like it was nothing. Jeff looked up, perplexed. Why hadn't they said anything? You'd think if you saw a guy hiding in the woods with blood all over his hands and clothes, you'd yell for the cops, right? So why hadn't this person said or done anything?

Jeff watched them as their back faced away from him once again, now noticing that they were walking in the direction he had just been running from. A thought crept into his mind, and he wrapped his hand around the handle of the fallen knife, smirking. 

'I see what they're doing now.' The killer thought, slowly rising to a standing position. 'They think they can outsmart me, eh?'

The person hadn't said anything because they were trying to be sneaky, Jeff had concluded. They thought that if Jeff thought they hadn't seen him, which there was no way considering his position and his clothes, then they could get away and tell the cops where they'd seen him! It was a smart move, Jeff would admit, but there was no way he was letting this fucker live to tell the tale. 

He remained still for a moment, analyzing the ground and area around him to make sure there wouldn't be any other obstacles or witnesses. He'd done moves like this before to hikers in the woods, and the thought of doing it again made his heart flutter with excitement. He couldn't wait to feel the sensation of their blood spilling from their body onto his hands and the ground, hear the sound of them trying to scream but being unable to, be able to stab them until their body grew still and never moved again so he could abandon them on the ground and leave them for the search parties to find later. 

When he decided that the coast was clear, Jeff sprang into action. He dashed forward, making sure he wasn't going to trip on any unsuspecting rocks or roots on the ground, his grip on his knife firm. He wrapped a now slightly dried blood-covered hand around the person's mouth, feeling their body tense up in surprise. They were able to let out one muffled shout before Jeff used his free hand to plunge the knife into their chest, making sure to cut them deep in order to get to the heart. 

Then the killer noticed something odd. The person wasn't reacting normally. Normally, his victim's legs would be buckling by now and they would be falling to the ground, their body going into shock. This person, however, remained standing. They weren't even leaning against his body, they were just... still. Like he had stabbed a fleshy tree rather than a person. 

Jeff yanked the knife out of their chest and stabbed them again, but the person still didn't fall. He then noticed something else. Something stranger than anything he had ever seen before. 

There was no blood.

The person wasn't bleeding at all - their shirt was completely clean. No blood, no, reaction, no... nothing. They were eerily still, and not in the way Jeff was used to when it came to stabbing his victims. 

Jeff took the knife out of their chest again and removed his hand from their mouth, violently turning them forward. The person - a guy, Jeff realized - let out a quiet gasp when he did this. 

Jeff had no clue what he was looking at.

Now that he was closer, he could now see that this guy's pupils were in fact just glowing red dots. He couldn't see the white part, if there was one, all he could make out was that ever present hue of bright crimson. His skin was pale, not quite as pale as Jeff's but still pretty damn close. His ears were pointed, like a elf's. His hair came down to about his shoulders and it was some kind of light color - blonde, maybe? It was way too dark to tell and with the only source of light being this guy's weird glow-in-the-dark eyeballs there wasn't a whole lot he could make out. His eyes did illuminate his face a little, however, providing just enough light to show a dark liquid - blood? - slowly pouring out of them. 

Jeff stared at the guy, trying to process what in the ever-loving fuck he was looking at. He remained silent, his hands still gripping the smaller male's shoulders. There's no way this person was human. Yeah, he was human-like, but no human he had ever encountered had glowing red eyes and was immune to fatal stabs to the chest. 'Why the fuck didn't he die?'

He hadn't realized how long he'd been holding the guy until it - he - said something.

"Um... Hi?"

His voice was soft and high pitched, like a child's. It caught Jeff off guard completely and he instantly dropped his hold on him, continuing to stare at him like he was an animal in a zoo enclosure. Jeff was about to say something but was cut off by the sound of footsteps ahead of them. The killer looked up and he could see the faint sight of flashlights, followed by the sound of approaching voices.

"Shit..." He muttered to himself. He looked down at the mystery boy and violently grabbed him by the shoulders once again. The boy let out a startled yelp and tensed up, but made no attempt to run away. 

"I was not here, you hear me?" Jeff said, leaning close to the boy's face. Now it was they boy's turn to stare at him, confused.

"Wha-?" He started to ask, but Jeff cut him off by pulling him even closer, whispering harshly. 

"I. Was. Not. Here!" He stated quickly. Then without another word, the killer let go of the boy's shoulders and began sprinting in the opposite direction of the voices.

As he ran, Jeff tried to focus on getting away from the cops, but his thoughts kept wandering back to that weird kid. Who was he? What was he doing in the middle of the woods? Why hadn't he bled when Jeff stabbed him? If he wasn't human, what was he? Would Jeff ever see him again? 

The killer shook his head, trying to clear the questions from his brain. 

'Now is not the time to think about pointless shit like that.' He thought to himself. 'He was just some kid fucking around in the woods that you just so happened to be unable to kill. Nothing more. Yeah, he was fuckin' weird and he's definitely not a human, but he's not important. He doesn't concern you. Shut the fuck up and stop thinking about it.'

And with that, the killer continued his descent into the woods, pushing any and all questions about the boy with the glowing red eyes into the back of his mind to be pondered on later.


	3. Who Are You, Really?

Sunlight slowly but surely made its way into the forest, illuminating the area in a golden glow. It had now been about half an hour or so since Jeff had first gotten away from his crime scene. Half an hour since he encountered that... thing. Boy. Person. Fuck, he didn't even know what he was. But whoever he was, he was weird and useless to him and Jeff hoped he never had to seen him again. He didn't need any more distractions. He just had to focus on loosing the cops for good. 

Speaking of, Jeff swore he could still hear voices from behind him. He hadn't glanced back since he saw the red-eyed freak and he didn't want to jinx himself, so he kept pressing forward despite being absolutely exhausted. Yes, he was a night owl and was used to spending most of his time up late at night, but whenever he did that he had the help of caffeinated drinks such as Monster Energy. Now he didn't have anything, and the killer's energy level was quickly crashing down to nothing. Damn those cops. Damn that kid. Damn him for deciding that going out and not at least bringing Smile with him was a good idea. He'd gone out without the dog before, he didn't need him or anything like that, but he was pretty damn useful in situations like this.

He also kept him company when he got lonely. 

'No, no, shut the fuck up.' He told his brain. 'You are not lonely right now. You need to be alone anyway. Just focus on getting the fuck out of here.'

Jeff pressed on. His legs were beginning to ache from all the walking he was doing and his entire body felt like it had been stomped on by a bunch of people wearing Docs. He was beyond exhausted and he knew there was no chance of him finding and opening the portal home in this state. The stupid things only showed up at night unless you were part of a higher being's alliance, which Jeff conveniently was not. Staying in the Over Realm was his best - and really his only - option for now. 

As he continued his trek through the woods, Jeff realized he didn't have a plan. He couldn't just wander around in the woods for the next several hours, but he couldn't return to the Under Realm either. He didn't know the area that well and he didn't know how far from the cops he was, so if he didn't come up with something soon, he was fucked. 

He was startled out of his barely functioning train of thought by a bunch of twigs snapping close by. Jeff caved and turned around to see what it was that made the noise. He cursed when he saw that it was a group of cops, their flashlights off due to the sun coming out. They hadn't seen him yet, thank fuck, but if he continued to stand around like an idiot they definitely would. He didn't think he could run from them anymore at this point, unless he wanted to collapse from exhaustion and get a one-way ticket to prison. 

'Alright, c'mon Jeff, think, think!' He looked around the area, trying to formulate some kind of plan with his sleep deprived brain. He was in a forest, surrounded by trees. Maybe he could his behind one of them until they left? No, that was only effective in the dark, and even then the cops had flashlights. Maybe he could stand his ground and fight? Oh yeah, one serial killer with a couple of knives versus a group of police officers with guns and tasers and years worth of training would go so well. No way in hell he would do that one... at least not alone. That'd be a fun thing to do with someone else though. A cop murder spree. He'd have to talk to EJ and see who else in the Under Realm would be down for that. He could already think of a couple of people who would probably wanna do it. 

'Focus, Jeff! FOCUS!' He mentally screamed. He let out a deep, irritated sigh. He was far too tired to be in this situation. He wanted nothing more than to lay down and go to sleep. Heh, that was kind of ironic. The guy who told other people to "go to sleep" now wanted to do it himself. But he wouldn't do it forever, unlike everyone else. It would only be for a few hours or so. 

'Dammit, I'm not getting anywhere thinking like this!' He thought. He lifted his hands up and slapped his face a couple of times, hoping to wake himself up a little. 

He eyes then slowly travelled to a nearby tree. This tree wasn't particularly different from the other trees surrounding him, aside from it being slightly thicker. Either that or Jeff was so tired he was starting to hallucinate. 

And suddenly, the killer had an idea. 

Jeff made his way over to the tree, stopping once he was within touching distance. He looked up at it, eyeing its branches. It wasn't the greatest idea in the world, but it was an idea that could work and Jeff was willing to take that over nothing. 

After analyzing the tree's branches and deeming them "safe enough," Jeff grabbed onto one of them and began ascending the tree, hoping to get high enough off of the ground so that the cops couldn't see him. It was a very tall tree and it was in the middle of Spring, so there were plenty of leaves covering its branches, which meant it'd be better for hiding inside of. 

One Jeff decided he was high enough, he readjusted himself so that he was now balanced on one of the sturdier branches, sitting semi-comfortably as he observed the ground below. There were enough leaves to conceal the killer, but not too many to make the ground completely invisible. He wasn't sure if the cops would be able to see him from up here, but he highly doubted they would. 

As he was looking around, his gaze turned to something shining on the ground by the base of the tree's trunk. As he looked closer, Jeff realized that to his dismay, it was his knife. He'd dropped it as he was climbing. 

"Aw shit!" Jeff muttered as he eyed the blade. How could he have been so careless?! Now the cops would know for sure that he was still in here! 

Jeff was about to contemplate what to do when he heard twigs snapping below. The sound of multiple footsteps soon closed in and he pressed himself up against the tree, hoping that no one would look up and see him up there. 

Jeff silently cursed to himself. 'Way to go, you fucking idiot. Now you're going to get caught for sure!'

"Hey, wait, is there someone there?"

Jeff froze. He was afraid to move, afraid to look down and see one of them looking up the tree. 'No one is here, no one is here, no one is here, no one is here.'

"Hey, kid, hang on for a second!" 

'Kid?' Jeff thought. He glanced down and saw that the knife was still on the ground, seemingly unnoticed. The officers were now focusing their attention on something else entirely. He looked around, trying to find a way to see what they were looking at when all of a sudden, he saw him. 

He was too far away to really make out the details, but there was a boy there. He had blonde hair and was wearing some kind of green nightgown, like something from Peter Pan. He couldn't really see anything else particularly striking, but he was able to listen in on part of their conversation. 

"...My mom's a makeup artist and this is just a costume. I decided to go out for a walk, my house isn't far." A younger voice said, presumably answering a question. A familiar younger voice, Jeff realized.

'Wait... motherfucker, is that the-?!' He stared at the boy, trying to get a glimpse of his face. His back was turned to Jeff, so he couldn't really see much of anything. 

"Oh, alright, well, have you seen anyone else in these woods?" A woman's voice asked. "Maybe they were tall, had black hair, pale skin, maybe some scars on their face?"

'That's him, isn't it?' Jeff thought. 'That's the kid I tried to stab earlier!'

'Ohhhh shit, he's gonna rat me out, isn't he? Why the hell wouldn't he, ya tried to stab the kid, for fuck's sake! This is it. I'm gonna go back to jail. I'm fucked. I'm sooooo fucked.'

"Hmm... actually, yeah, I did see someone in these woods!"

'I'm gonna skin him alive when I get a hold of him-!'

"Although they were running really fast so I don't know if they're the person you're looking for. I think they went... that way!" The kid said, pointing to Jeff's east. 

'Wait, that's not the direction I went in!' Jeff thought. 'What is he...?' 

'Wait... holy shit.' The killer smiled to himself once he realized what was going on, although he was admittedly confused by it. 

'He just lied to the fucking cops!' He thought, amused. 'But why? I tried to kill him earlier! Why would he save my ass?'

"You're sure?" The woman asked. The kid nodded. 

"Alright, thank you very much! Have a good day!" A man spoke. Then they began walking in the direction that the kid had pointed in, not even giving so much as a glance back. 

'Did I just get saved by a fucking middle schooler?' Jeff thought to himself. Not that he was complaining, any instance that didn't involve jail time was usually the better option, but it was just so... weird. That was definitely the same kid he'd stabbed earlier, there was no doubt about it. And he had seen Jeff's face, he knew what he looked like. He knew that the description the officers had just given matched his, so why did he lie? 

Light footsteps suddenly made their way to the base of the tree, causing Jeff to hold his breath once again. He looked down and saw the kid standing there, right in front of his knife. 

'Did he see it and decide to cover for me? If so, why? Is he fucking stupid?' Jeff thought. He watched as the mystery boy bent down and picked up the knife, examining it. He then proceeded to hold onto it and then continue walking through the woods in the opposite direction the cops had gone in. 

"I wouldn't take that if I were you." Jeff spoke loudly. He chuckled as the boy flinched hard, holding the knife up in defense. He whirled around, looking in all directions as he tried to find the source of the voice. 

"Up here, dipshit." Jeff called. The boy looked up and Jeff was suddenly face to face with those glowing red eyes that he'd seen just a few minutes ago. He was still too far away to make out any striking details aside from that, but he was close enough for Jeff to see that he was startled, his facial expression anxious. 'How the fuck did the cops not question his eyes...?'

"Didn't anyone tell ya it's rude to take other people's shit?" Jeff spoke, nodding towards the knife. The boy looked down at the blade, slowly bringing his arms down from the defensive position he'd been in earlier. 

"U-Um..." The kid stuttered timidly. "S-S-Sorry..." 

He set the knife back down at the base of the tree and backed up, his face scrunching into one of confusion. "What're you doing in a tree?" He asked. 

Jeff blinked in surprise. He let out a snicker. "What's it to ya, eh?" 

The kid frowned. "Sorry. I-I-I just thought I'd ask." He said.

'What the fuck?' Jeff thought. 'Why does he sound so... ugh, what is it, concerned? For me? I dunno, but I don't like it.'

"Well, uh, if ya don't mind, I'd like ya to leave so I can get the fuck down from here." Jeff spoke, swinging his legs over the tree branch he was sitting on. 

The boy glanced up at him. "Why do you need me to leave? Is it because you attacked me earlier?" He asked.

Jeff was caught by surprise once again. 'So he does remember...'

"The fuck is wrong with your brain? Yes, of course it's because of that! Now beat it!" Jeff snapped. 

He figured maybe if he could intimidate or scare the kid enough, he'd just leave him alone. Jeff wasn't gonna lie, he was... interesting, but he was also really weird. Jeff really didn't want anything to do with him right now. Right now, he just wanted to grab his knife and hide until he could go home before he could get arrested. But this child was completely fucking up his plans. He didn't like it. 

The boy flinched at Jeff's harsh tone before spewing out several apologies once again and turning away from the tree, not saying a word. Jeff watched this, satisfied and also a tad confused. 

'...Again. What the fuck?' Jeff thought. That whole interaction was just... bizarre. He didn't like it.

Deciding that sitting around up there all day wasn't going to get him anywhere, Jeff began to climb down the tree, his mind wandering. 

'Who the hell is he?' Jeff thought to himself. 'And why the fuck can't I stop thinking about him? He's just some kid. With glowing eyes. Who can't be stabbed to death. He's so... agh, I hate him and his fuckin'... weird, lying bullshit and fucked up eyeballs! He's making me waste energy thinking about him! Why? Just shut the fuck up and focus on getting out of-!'

Snap.

Jeff froze, looking up at where his hand was gripping onto a branch. It was a very thin branch, one that would not have been ideal to grab onto. Because the killer's mind had been elsewhere, he hadn't realized it until it was too late. He tried to move in order to avoid grabbing onto another broken branch, but in his haste he'd stepped on another thin branch. It immediately cracked when his weight was applied to it, causing Jeff's eyes to widen and his entire body to grow still. 

"Oh fu-"

That was all he managed to get out before the branch suddenly broke off of the tree with a loud crack, causing Jeff to lose his footing. He tried to grab onto another branch above him, but all he got were twigs and branches that were far too thin. He let out a loud yell as he fell, knowing he was definitely going to break something once he hit the ground. Not knowing what else to do, Jeff screwed his eyes shut and braced for impact, preparing to hold back a pain-filled scream.

Only the impact didn't come. 

He waited a second. 3. The air was still, like somebody had stopped time itself. The only sounds that could be heard were the sounds of the wind blowing through the surrounding trees and of birds chirping. Oh, and something that sounded like... heavy panting?

Jeff opened his eyes. He didn't know what he had been expecting, but it definitely wasn't what he was looking at right now. 

His body was floating above the ground, his face inches away from the forest floor. He was surrounded in this bizarre green light, like he had been dunked in glow stick juice. He wasn't falling anymore, he was just... still. Floating. Like gravity had ceased to exist at that exact moment. He then looked up to see if anybody was witnessing this and his eyes widened.

The kid was standing a few feet away from him, his arm outstretched towards Jeff. His fingers were flexed outwards, like he was about to grab onto something. Now that there was daylight and he was closer, Jeff could now see things that he hadn't noticed when he'd first encountered the kid. His blonde hair was messy and disheveled, like it hadn't been brushed in days. He wasn't wearing shoes or socks and his feet were covered in dirt. His nightgown(?) was very run down looking, it was covered in holes and dirt stains and overall just looked extremely tattered and worn. Jeff could even see the cuts in the fabric on the boy's chest where his knife had been inside of him, although it had done zero damage to the boy himself. His face was dotted with freckles all along his nose and both of his cheeks below his eyes. Crimson blood slowly poured out of his eyes, although none of it appeared to drip onto the ground or off of his face at all. He had faint bruises around his wrists, ankles, and neck that looked as though something had been pressed into his skin extremely hard. Whoever this kid was, he looked like hell. 

Jeff stared at him wide-eyed. The kid stared right back. Neither of them said a single word. 

'What the hell are you?'


	4. We All Share the Same Graves

The two of them stared at each other, not saying a word. Jeff was too stunned to say anything anyway. This kid had just fucking caught him mid-fall with his mind. How? And why? Who was he? What was he?

"Um... are you okay?" The kid's voice said with uncertainty. 

Jeff didn't answer at first. He continued to stare wide-eyed at the boy, silent. Finally, after what felt like forever, he said something.

"What the fuck are you?" 

The elf-like boy didn't say anything. Instead, he gently lowered Jeff to the ground, being careful not to injure him. The green glow around Jeff's body disappeared as he made contact with the forest floor. Once he was set down, he began to gather his belongings that had fallen out of his pockets, including the knife that had been left on the ground earlier. 

"I-I-I'm sorry I took your knife. I d-didn't realize it was yours." The boy said softly. Jeff looked up at him and saw that he was now wringing his hands together as some sort of nervous tic. His red eyes gazed at the killer with what appeared to be a mix of uncertainty and curiosity. 

"It's fine." Jeff grumbled. "The fuck are you doing out here anyway?" 

The boy blinked rapidly. "U-Um, nothing. J-Just... walking." 

Jeff gave him a skeptical look. "Uh huh..." He said, giving him a once-over. _Makeup artist my ass, those bruises are real, I know it. And what’s with the LARPing getup? Jesus, this kid has gotta be either a cosplayer who got turned around at ComicCon or some kind of weirdo runaway._

With his belongings back in his pockets, Jeff rose to his feet. The boy stepped back slightly, appearing to be intimidated by their height difference. Jeff smirked at this. 

"What? Taller than you expected?" He said teasingly in the same manner he would use to talk to his victims. The boy shrunk back slightly, his hands now beginning to tremble. 

"N-No... just... uh..." 

The boy was staring up at his face, eyes wide slightly. Jeff eventually realized what he was looking at. 

"You're staring at my scars aren'tcha?" He asked somewhat threateningly. 

The blonde quickly shook his head. "N-No! I-I mean, yes, but n-n-not with disgust or anything like that! I-I was just curious!" He said anxiously. 

Jeff grinned. _Despite this kid apparently being able to lie to the cops and his immunity to being stabbed, he's still afraid of me! Wow, what a fuckin' joke._

"Well, take a picture, it'll last longer!" He said. The boy then looked up at him, confused. 

"But I don't have a camera?” He said, raising an eyebrow.

Jeff's face deadpanned. _Is he serious?_

"It's a fucking expression, yeesh..." Jeff said, now slightly irritated. _What is he, stupid?_

The boy's face faltered. "O-Oh... sorry." 

Jeff didn't say anything back. Instead, he turned his back away from the boy, deciding he didn't want anything to do with him. Although he wouldn't deny he was curious as to what exactly he was, he didn't need to waste his time talking to him. He was nothing more than a distraction to him. He just needed to wait until nighttime, find the portal that lead to the Under Realm and get the fuck out before the cops came back. 

As he walked, he thought he could hear footsteps behind him. He stopped walking and turned around quickly to see that the boy was still behind him. He flinched when Jeff whirled around to look at him, still doing that nervous hand thing. 

Jeff glared at him. "Fuck off, kid. I'm not a baby sitter." 

"I-I'm not-!"

"What're ya, deaf? I said fuck off!" Jeff yelled aggressively. The boy flinched harder and immediately backed away, his pointed ears drooping down once again. 

"I-I just thought that y-you-!" The kid stammered out. 

Jeff cut him off with a sigh, frustrated. "Look kid, in case ya haven't noticed, I'm not exactly wanted for being a Good Samaritan. So leave me alone before you get my ass arrested, alright?" 

"B-But-!" 

"Shut the fuck up and leave me alone or I'm gonna gut you!" 

The boy reeled back, looking up at Jeff with sad, fear-filled eyes, like a kicked puppy. He finally turned around and sprinted in the opposite direction, vanishing into the trees within a few minutes. Jeff watched him run, shaking his head in disbelief and frustration. 

_What a fucking weirdo..._ He thought. He turned around and headed back the way he had originally been going, pushing all thoughts about the elf freak out of his mind. He just had to focus on coming up with a solid plan. 

✞———————❖———————✞ 

EJ hopped off of Seed’s back, the multiple jars of organs that he’d collected clinking together in his duffel bag. He reached inside and grabbed one of the jars that he’d marked with Velcro and unscrewed the top. He grabbed a small handful of eyes and held them up to Seed, who ate them gratefully. 

“You did good out there, girl.” EJ muttered, putting the jar back and patting her on the side, stroking her soft fur. He listened as she made her way around the cabin back to her shelter in the yard. He himself then headed towards the front of the cabin, the wooden steps underneath him letting out loud creaks as his weight was applied to them. He felt for the doorknob and swung it open, lifting his mask off of his face as he did so. 

“I’m back!” EJ called softly, unsure if Jeff was down here or not. Judging by the TV’s silence, he assumed that he was upstairs sleeping like he’d said before. He shut the door behind him and set his mask down on the nearby kitchen counter. He kicked his shoes off and placed them next to the door. As he was doing so, he noticed that Jeff’s Converse, which were usually right by the door next to his, were gone. EJ became confused, knowing he hadn’t heard or smelled Jeff outside when he had returned. He set his duffel bag down on the counter and then began moving throughout the house, checking to see if Jeff was there at all. It was quiet. 

Too quiet.

The half-demon made his way upstairs. He listened for any sign of Jeff; the sound of knives sharpening, the sound of rock music blasting far too loudly from his earbuds, but there was nothing. Not even the sound of him snoring. 

He entered the killer’s bedroom and instantly knew that aside from Smile, who had been fast asleep on the bed, the room was empty. The stench of blood, sweat, and regret was far less potent than it usually was when Jeff was in the room. 

EJ frowned, realization dawning on him. Jeff had lied to him. 

“...Shit.” 

✞———————❖———————✞ 

"Now what..." Jeff grumbled to himself. He was still aimlessly wandering around the woods, trying to find an exit to the forest or some place to hide from the police. So far, he had been unsuccessful. The morning air chill had settled in and Jeff had put his heavily bloodstained hoodie back on, zipping it up all the way. He was now getting into the deeper parts of the woods, the areas where Trail Blazers would probably come through and create paths for hikers. The sounds of the forest echoed all around him, creating a somewhat peaceful environment in the killer's tense situation. 

_Y'know... if I wasn't exhausted as shit and on the run from the cops I'd probably like it out here. Seems like a good place to walk after a kill._

He kept walking for who knows how long before suddenly discovering a dirt path in the middle of the forest. There were multiple sets of footprints and tire tracks, showing that cyclists and hikers often came through this area. 

Well, it's a start! Jeff thought. But I can't get too close to the humans, they'll probably recognize me, so what should I...?

"Excuse me!"

Jeff froze. 

_Fuck._

He stopped walking, but didn't turn around. He didn't recognize the feminine voice and automatically assumed that it was a cop that had been patrolling the area, more than likely to look for him. He stayed put, trying to think of some sort of plan as he heard oncoming footsteps. 

"M'am? Are you alright?"

_Wow, way to piss a guy off. First, by sending a bunch of people to look for his ass and then by misgendering his ass! It's 2014, bitch - come on._

"Who the fuck are you calling 'm'am?'" Jeff said menacingly, turning around to face the person, who was in fact an officer. The woman stepped back in shock, but quickly went for her radio once she recognized him. 

"I found him. He's on the East trail- oof!" 

That was all she could get out before Jeff charged at her, his backup knife in his hand. She grabbed onto his wrists, trying to hold him back. Jeff was successfully able to make a small stab to her upper wrist that caused her to momentarily let go of his dominant hand, but a moment was all he needed to stab her in the shoulder. She let out a loud cry of pain, momentarily loosening her hold on Jeff. He raised the knife once again and was about to finish her off with a blow to the skull when his movements were suddenly cut off by a loud resounding BANG! 

Pain exploded in his left side, causing him to let out a scream of agony. He rolled off the woman and looked down at his side, panting. There was a fresh bullet hole in the side of his hoodie and Jeff silently hoped that it hadn’t punctured anything vital. He could feel blood slowly begin to ooze out of the wound, pain radiating from the area like heat on a summer's day. 

Jeff let our a string of curses as he quickly crawled away from the officer, placing a hand over the wound. It stung once his skin made contact with it, causing him to cringe harshly. The officer still had her pistol in her hand and was just now starting to get up, the gun aimed at Jeff. Jeff quickly backed away and tried to rise to his feet, the searing ache in his side hindering his movements tremendously. 

"Jeffery Woods, you are under arrest!" The officer yelled out, pistol still in her hands. She was now holding one hand against her shoulder, which had begun to bleed profusely. 

"...Shut the fuck up." Jeff said, unable to think of a witty response. He began backing away, his arms protecting his fresh wound. The woman's grip on the pistol tightened, her finger hovering above the trigger. 

"If you take one more step, I'll shoot!" She threatened. 

"Wooow, just like the other boys in blue - ya shoot everyone that isn't a straight rich white guy, huh?" Jeff drawled with a smirk. "Figured as much." 

Her finger gently pressed the trigger. "I said-!"

All of a sudden, the gun defied all known laws of physics and flew out of her hands, hitting the ground several feet behind her. 

Both Jeff and the officer stared at the weapon in disbelief, stunned. 

"What the...?" The officer muttered, looking from her hands, to Jeff, to back at the gun. 

_The fuck was that?_ Jeff thought. _How in the hell...?_

__

__

_Whelp, not like it matters to me!_ Jeff thought, slowly beginning to inch further and further away from the woman. She saw this and immediately ran for the pistol. 

"Hey, hey, stop right there!"

Suddenly, Jeff was hit with a burst of adrenaline. He wasn't sure what the hell had gotten into him, but he was hit with this energy that allowed him to run faster and farther away despite having an open, bleeding wound. Not that he was complaining, of course. 

His feet thudded against the dirt ground, the other sounds around him being drowned out by his own pounding heart and heavy breathing. He wasn't sure where exactly he was going, but he was going away from here. 

He suddenly came across a run down-looking wooden structure, like some kind of abandoned hunter's shack or something. He could hear he officer's footsteps far behind him - maybe he'd be able to hide inside or behind it? But then that'd be too obvious and she'd only find him...

The pain slowly began to return to Jeff's body, making him slow down slightly. 

_Whelp, unless I wanna pass out and die I don't have much of a choice anymore, do I?_ He thought. He quickly ducked behind the structure, crouching down next to some vines that had started growing on the old wooden walls. The moment he stopped moving, the pain suddenly hit him full force. He hissed, setting his knife down and clutching his profusely bleeding wound with both hands. He gritted his teeth, trying to stay quiet as he heard the officer's oncoming footsteps.

_Alright, now what the fuck am I gonna do?_ Jeff thought. The situation was looking grim, he was bleeding from his side, weakened, tired, and cornered by a cop with a gun. Even if a portal was somehow miraculously open nearby, he didn't think he could get up right now. The pain was too great. 

Long story short, he was fucked. 

_No... no, this can't be how it ends, it just can't!_ Jeff thought. He'd been through so much worse than this, he couldn't just die to a stupid cop right here!

"Jeffery Woods, you have the right to remain silent. Everything you say can and will be used against you. Come out with your hands up." The woman's voice said, now closer to the structure. 

Jeff held his breath, knowing deep down that she wasn't going to go away any time soon. He shook his head, severely disappointed in himself for letting this happen. There was no way he could talk or stab his way out of this one. He was either going to die or get arrested right here and now, his reign of terror coming to an end. 

"I said, come out with your hands-! ...What the-?! AAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHH!" 

The cop suddenly shrieked in agony, catching Jeff off guard. He flinched, holding onto his wound even tighter. He couldn't see what was happening but he could definitely hear her - and what also sounded like something... sparking? He couldn't tell what it was exactly, but it was something electrical. 

He furrowed his brows in confusion, trying to paint a picture of what was going on inside his mind. But his mind came up with nothing - he had no damn clue what could be happening out there. 

As quickly as the woman's screams started, they suddenly stopped. There was a loud thud to Jeff's right, causing him to flinch slightly. He'd thought he'd heard a voice whisper something along the lines of ‘sorry,’ but it was way too quiet to tell. The air grew still, silent. As the saying goes, you could hear a pin drop. 

Then, footsteps from the right of the shack. Light ones, not heavy ones. Jeff froze. His entire body would've tensed up, but it was too busy dealing with the overwhelming amount of pain and blood loss. He braced himself for anything, having no clue what to expect. 

A head peered around the corner and the killer's eyes widened. 

It was the red-eyed elf from earlier. 

"O-Oh my gosh t-that looks-!" He stammered out upon seeing Jeff. He hurried past the wall and approached Jeff, a look of concern flooding his face. Jeff attempted to move away from him, confused. Was he hallucinating? He'd told this kid to mind his damn business, there was no way this was the same guy! He'd stabbed him, for fuck's sake!

"What... the fuck... are you doing here?" Jeff said, surprised at how much effort that took him. 

The blonde looked at him, that doey-eyed look of concern never leaving. 

"I just want to help you."

That was all Jeff was able to hear before his surroundings spun and his vision went black.

~~~

When Jeff woke up, he was in a completely different area that he didn't recognize. He blinked and looked around, trying to sit up only for a stinging pain to interrupt him, making him wince and curl in on himself. 

"Oh, good! Y-You're awake!" 

Jeff looked up and saw the blonde kid sitting a foot or two away from him, a needle and thread in his hands. He was stitching up a hole in his dress - nightgown, whatever the fuck it was he was wearing. He set the needle down in his lap and looked over at the killer, a small smile on his face. 

"I was scared for a second that you were... n-never mind, we shouldn't really think about that- uh, how're you feeling?" 

Jeff looked down at his wound and saw that his shirt had been rolled up and there was a white bandage covering the area he'd been shot. He shifted slightly and could feel what had to be stitches underneath his skin. He looked back up at the kid, confused. 

"Did you do this?" He asked. 

The kid nodded. "Yeah, I saw you bleeding on the ground and I didn't want to just leave you there, so... yeah. I'm not a professional, but I tried." 

"Why?"

"Hm?"

"Why did you help me? I fuckin' stabbed you." Jeff reminded him. 

The blonde wrung his hands together, tensing up slightly. "S-Stab me or not, you were still in danger. Y-You were hurt, I-I can’t j-just leave someone who's hurt to die! I-I..." 

He stopped talking and turned away from the killer, biting his lip. "I-I'm sorry, I just wanted to help...”

Jeff stared at him, surprised. _He just wanted to make sure that I didn't die? That's it? What the fuck?!_

"Well, uh... how'd ya even find me to begin with? I thought I told you to leave me alone." Jeff asked. 

"Oh, I-I did!" The kid started. "A-And then I-I overheard these police officers talking about how they were g-gonna resort to violence once they found you - at least, I assumed they were talking about you seeing as you freaked out when they started approaching a couple hours ago - and I-I've read the news stuff... I-I didn't want them to hurt you like that, so I j-just..." 

He trailed off, covering his mouth with his hands. "I j-j-just rambled on a lot, I'm so sorry!" 

Jeff gave him a puzzled look, still confused. "Ookaaaayyyy, well where the fuck are we now?" He asked, looking around. They were still in the woods, just not in any area Jeff felt familiar in. 

"Deeper into the forest. I've been out here for the past day or so, so I'm pretty familiar with the area." The blonde explained. 

"Why are you out here? And what's with the fuckin' Peter Pan dress?" He asked, gesturing towards his clothes. 

The kid looked down at his tattered nightgown-dress-thing, toying with the unstitched fabric. "I-It's... actually a tunic..." He mumbled. "A-And I'm out here because... um..." 

He suddenly trailed off, looking anxiously around them. Jeff noticed his hands start to tremble slightly, as though they were freezing cold. The blonde took a deep breath in before continuing. 

"I-I'm... hiding." 

Jeff's gaze turned from one of confusion to one of curiosity. "Hiding? From what?" 

"Uh... i-it's complicated." He said. He didn't go any further and instead picked up the needle and placed it behind his ear, sort of like how people would with flowers. He crawled over to Jeff, his face holding an expression of pure concern. 

"A-Are you sure you don't hurt anywhere? D-Did I do okay?" 

Jeff glanced down at the bandage again. "Yeah, I mean... I’m not dying anymore." He said. 

The blonde smiled slightly. "Good. I-I'm glad." 

Jeff gazed around the area, noticing something else. It was no longer sunrise, rather the sun was relatively high up in the sky and fully shining down upon the forest around them. 

"How long have I been out for?" He asked.

The blonde thought for a moment. "About an hour. Maybe more." 

"Tch, wow, only that long? Figures..." Jeff said, rolling his eyes. 

The blonde tilted his head in confusion. "What do you mean by that?" 

Jeff sighed. "I was supposed to be back home by now, asleep. In case ya couldn't tell, I've had a very long day and only one hour of sleep isn't gonna cut it." He said, irritated. 

The blonde's ears drooped slightly. "Oh. Well... how about you go to sleep for a while? I can keep watch and make sure the cops don't come around!" 

Jeff looked at him, perplexed. "What're you gonna do once they show up? Talk your fuckin' way out of it?" 

The boy shook his head. "No, I'm going to do... stuff. It'll make them go away, trust me."

"How the fuck do you know?"

"...I-It's what I did to the one who shot you..." 

Jeff's eyes widened. "Wait wait wait wait, wait. That whole screaming thing right before she could arrest me - that was you?!" He asked in surprise. 

The blonde nodded. "Mhm!”

He noticed Jeff’s stunned expression and quickly added; “I-I didn't k-k-kill her or anything! I j-just... scared her. A-And might've accidentally shocked her a little. But she's still very much alive and not going to hurt you, I swear!" 

Jeff gazed at him, now more confused than ever. "How the fuck did you manage to scare away a cop?" He asked.

The boy looked off to the side. "I-I just... know how to." He then shook his head and grabbed his needle again, continuing to mend the holes in his dre- tunic. "Get some shuteye. I've got us covered." 

Jeff was about to protest when he thought about this situation. He was in the woods, not bleeding to death anymore and not a single cop in sight. He had been placed on the dirt ground, a couple of leaves and other foliage having been placed around and under him as some sort of makeshift bed. This kid wasn't being as annoying as Jeff thought he was going to be, he had to admit. But that didn't mean he wanted him to stick around. Still... he wasn't going to lie, he was grateful for the kid's presence and him saving his ass. However, he still had several questions. 

Before he could open his mouth to ask them, however, the blonde spoke first. 

"Well, actually, before you sleep... uh, I overheard the police calling you Jeffery?" 

Jeff cringed at the use of his full name. "Jeff. Just... Jeff." 

The blonde nodded. "Okay. J-Just wanted to know." 

"What's yours?" Jeff asked. 

The blonde did the confused head tilt thing again. "What?"

"Your name. I told ya mine, so tell me yours. The fucks your name, kid?" 

The blonde toyed with the needle, twirling it around in his fingers in a similar manner to how Jeff would twirl his knife. 

"My name is Ben." 

Ben. Jeff thought. Huh. I thought his name would be something more... DnD-like considering his elfy looks. 

"Alright then, Ben. What the fuck are you? 'Cause you're obviously not human."

Ben looked at him, those glowing red eyes analyzing him carefully. 

"How about I tell you when you're not as tired?" He offered. “T-That way I’m not bothering y-you with my rambling as much.” 

"I-" Jeff started, but stopped. If he answered his question now, he'd probably forget about it by the time he woke up. Plus, sleep sounded amazing to him right now. He glared up at Ben, giving him a skeptical look. 

"Promise you won't turn my ass in to the cops?" He asked.

"I promise." Ben said. 

Jeff raised an eyebrow before shifting on a slightly more comfortable position. "You better keep your fuckin' word... Or I will gut you..." He mumbled. After only about 5 minutes, his eyes drifted shut and he succumbed to exhaustion, the tranquil sounds of the forest and the soft humming of this ‘Ben’ person lulling him into slumber.


	5. Light 'em Up

The sound of tortured screams and chains clinking together filled the air, a grotesque chorus of never ending agony from those who awaited judgement. The air reeked of dried blood and smoke, like the aftermath of a house fire. Contrary to the smoky smell, however, it was surprisingly cold in the gateway to Hell. The only warm area being that of the rooms near the Gate, which lead directly to Hell itself. Amongst these rooms was a large court-like chamber, currently filled with dozens of monsters discussing something. 

"How on earth did he manage to escape?!" Their leader bellowed angrily from his throne. "I thought you said he would be under careful watch!" 

"He was, Master." A cyber ghost bearing resemblance to a Pokémon trainer answered meekly. "No one knows what happened. His chains might not have been infused properly, at least that's what I think happened-!" 

"Silence!" The demonic leader yelled, the room shaking as the volume of his voice increased. "However it happened, I want to find him and find out how he got out to ensure he doesn't escape again!" 

One of the monsters smirked to herself. 

"Does anyone know anything about where he could possibly be?" Their leader asked the room. 

"I have a theory." A shadowy figure spoke. The demonic leader turned in his direction, interest peaked. 

"He could be in the Over Realm." The shadow said. 

There was a brief silence throughout the room before laughter from all beings, including the leader, erupted and shattered the quiet like a hammer to a mirror. 

"The Over Realm?! Ha! Good one, man!" The Pokémon trainer said. The shadow glared at him angrily, causing the trainer to reel back in fear. 

"I have solid facts to back it up." The shadow said. 

The demonic overlord cleared his throat, suppressing the urge to continue laughing. "Alright, alright, fine. Humor me. Why do you think he could be in the Over Realm?"

"He doesn't know his way around the Under Realm, remember? He's never set foot anywhere outside of the Gate." The shadow began. "Except for the Over Realm, which is where we first found him and brought him here. If he were to escape from our grasp, then the first thing he would do is find a way back to the Over Realm, the area he feels safer in. He knows his way around there, so he'd feel better about running off to somewhere he's been before." 

"My theory is when he supposedly 'disappeared' in Smiley's lab, he glitch travelled through one of the devices in there - I'd guess the computer - and made his way to the Over Realm from there. If he were smart, he'd avoid going into any electronic devices for as long as he can due to how easy it was for Red to track him down after he refused the offer years ago. He'll have to return to a device soon though, we all know he can't go for very long staying out of one. Unless, of course, he wants to become comatose and eventually die... again." The shadow finished that last part with a chuckle.

"So. Does anyone wish to say anything that would contradict this?" He said, his face slowly morphing into a cocky grin. 

The room remained silent. Everyone was looking at him in awe, a couple of them nodding and muttering words of agreement to themselves. Their leader looked at him, a red, sharp-toothed grin slowly spreading across his monstrous face. 

"Perhaps you may be on to something." He said. The shadow smirked at him, bowing his head. 

"I do try my best, Master." He replied. 

"Alright. Listen close, I have a new mission for everyone!" The leader bellowed. Anyone who hadn't been paying attention earlier was now fully invested in these orders, not wanting to miss a word. 

"Our top priority is finding Benjamin. The most likely place he would be is in the Over Realm, but we're going to search elsewhere as well. We cannot overlook anything, he must be found immediately. He's one of the greatest weapons the Gate has ever had, we can't afford to lose him."

"I want all hands to be on deck for this mission. This means every single one of you will play a part in his recontainment. Each of you will be given two hours to make preparations, for some of you will be traveling. Prepare all of the Antiplasm possible - blades, serums, bullets, everything! You may not kill him, but you may severely harm him if needed. We just need him alive. Do you understand that? Alive." 

Their leader turned towards the shadow and the trainer once more. "Dark, Red?"

Dark Link and Glitchy Red replied at the same time; "Yes, Master?"

"I want you two to go up to the Over Realm. If you or the Shredders that I’ll be assigning with you find Benjamin, sedate him and bring him back to me immediately."

"So violence against Benjamin is permitted, Master?" Dark asked. 

"As long as he is alive, bring him back in whatever state you wish." The demon answered. 

Dark Link smirked to himself, letting out a sinister chuckle. 

"With pleasure, Master Zalgo."


	6. Better Find Another Superstition

When Jeff woke up again, he found that his body had been moved, only this time he was laying inside of what appeared to be an abandoned barn. He became confused at first before remembering the events leading up to this; the cops, the gunshot, the weird blonde kid named Ben saving him. He looked around only to find the elf in question nowhere in sight. He was laying on a soft bed of hay that had once again been moved around to provide him a sense of comfort. His hoodie had been unwrapped from his waist and placed on top of him like a blanket, the fabric covering his entire top half and part of his legs. Aside from this, however, Ben was nowhere to be seen. 

_I didn't just... hallucinate him, did I?_ Jeff thought. He sat up and was surprised to find that it was significantly easier than before, although still slightly painful. He lifted up his shirt to check the wound and saw that the bandage was still there, carefully taped over top of the stitched part of his skin. 

_Definitely not a hallucination or dream..._ He thought. He couldn't do stitches to save himself, let alone on his own body. He always had to get EJ to help him out any time they were required. 

He checked to make sure he still had all of his belongings (which he thankfully did) and looked around the barn, wondering what to do now. He allowed his mind to wander, his convoluted thoughts stirring around in his head like a rich soup. 

_Did Ben really save my ass because he simply wanted to help me?_ He wondered. _Last I checked, random acts of kindness don't usually happen to people like us - like me - so what does he really want? That couldn't have been the only reason... right? But then where the hell is he at now? And he looks young, he can't be older than 10 or 11. What the hell is a 10 year old elf with the equivalent to the Force doing in the middle of the woods? And where did he even get a needle and thread and other shit? His tunic thing didn't look like it had pockets, so how in the hell did he get all the stuff to fix me? And what did he do to that one police officer? He said he hadn't killed her, but that he "scared her." What the fuck does that mean? It's not like he just jumped out and yelled "boo!" at her until she left!_

_And what in the hell was he if he wasn't a human?_

"Oh, hey, y-you're awake again!" 

Jeff turned his head in the direction of the voice and saw Ben standing in the open entryway to the barn. His tunic had far fewer holes in it than before and he was holding a plastic bag full of objects that Jeff couldn't see. He walked over to the killer and sat down crisscross in front of him.

"How're you feeling? D-Did you sleep okay? I tried to make you as comfy as possible." 

Jeff glanced at the bag then back up at Ben. "I mean... I don't feel like the grim reaper is gonna kick down my door anytime soon, so not bad I guess."

Ben gave him a small smile. "Good. I would've left you a note, but we don't exactly have paper." 

Jeff looked at him confused before he realized he was talking about his absence. "Where did ya even go? Back to the woods?" He nodded towards the bag. "And what's all that?" 

Ben looked down at the bag and opened it, the thin plastic crinkling as he moved it. "Oh, I-I figured you were probably hungry at this point because you were asleep for a while, so I got you some food!" He explained. He pulled out a handful of small snacks that consisted of a few granola bars, a small bag of chips, and a pack of Skittles. "I don't really remember what the living are supposed to eat, so I just took some random stuff."

Jeff gave him a quizzical look. "The living?" 

Ben gazed at him before widening his eyes, realizing something. "Oh, I never explained myself to you, did I?! I'm so sorry, I completely forgot- well, and you were kind of really really exhausted and I didn't wanna bother you, but-! Yeah! Um... I'm not technically alive." 

Jeff stared at him in disbelief and confusion. "What are you, some kinda zombie?" 

Ben shook his head. "Nope. I'm a ghost." 

Jeff continued to stare at him. "A ghost?" He said, skeptical. 

"Mhm! Specifically a cyber ghost." Ben said with a nod. 

_Cyber...? Oh yeah, isn't Lost Silver one of those?_ Jeff thought. He nodded slowly as he recollected this. He eyed the kid up and down once again, now putting the pieces together in his mind. 

"Lemme guess - you're from one of the Zelda games?" Jeff asked.

Ben nodded again. "Majora's Mask. One of the best in the series." He said. Then he paused, frowning. "Well... it used to be the best to me..."

He then shook his head and blinked. "Never mind, it's not important. Um, I also got you a water bottle!" He pulled a plastic bottle out of the bag and held it out to Jeff, waiting for him to take it. Jeff grabbed it and opened it, not realizing how thirsty and hungry he was until now. 

"...Thanks." Jeff mumbled before tilting his head back to take a sip. 

"How the hell did you get this stuff?" Jeff asked. Ben shrugged. 

"Teleportation and a 5-finger discount." He said. Jeff's eyes widened before a small smile began to spread across his face as well.

"And here I thought you were a goody two-shoes." Jeff said, amused. He unwrapped a granola bar and took a bite, making sure to tilt his head back once again to avoid pieces of it from falling out of his smile. 

"Hey, if I had money I would gladly pay for it!" Ben wined, frowning. "But I don't and I didn't want you to starve to death or anything like that, so..." 

"I think that's kinda funny." Jeff said after swallowing. "You were all like 'you're a wanted criminal being hunted by police but I still just wanna help you!' a few hours ago and now you're committing crimes just to ensure my survival." 

Ben stuttered. "But- Just- It- Don't say it like that! Then I feel even worse!" He crossed his arms after that sentence, looking down at the ground. His angry expression then faltered and was replaced with one of worry. "I'm sorry, did that sound bratty just now? I didn't mean to irritate you I'mreallysorry-!"

"Woah. It's okay." Jeff said, surprised. Ben gazed at him. "Really?"

"Really..." Jeff said, confused. _He didn't even sound whiny at all, what is he apologizing for?_

Ben let out a sigh of relief. "Okay, good." 

Jeff took another bite of his granola bar. "So... I've got a fuck ton of questions that I wanna ask ya." He said. 

Ben shrugged and nodded. "I figured. I have a couple questions for you too, i-if you don't mind." He said somewhat timidly. 

"Okay, cool, I'll go first - why the fuck didn't me stabbing you do anything?" Jeff said quickly. 

Ben blinked. "Because I'm already dead." He said simply. 

"...Huh?"

"I'm already dead. There isn't really a point in trying to kill someone who's already deceased. Stabbing a ghost or any undead person is like trying to stab water - it doesn't do anything." 

Jeff stared in bewilderment. "So... you pretty much can't be killed?" 

Ben nodded. 

Well that explains a lot. Jeff thought. "Well, here's my next quest-"

"Wait - c-c-can I ask you s-something super quick?" Ben cut him off. "I-I'm s-s-sorry, this has been bugging me since I first ran into you, so I'm just-!"

"Fine. Knock yourself out." Jeff said.

Ben looked at him in surprise. "Really? Y-You're not mad that I cut you off?"

 _Yes._ "No." 

Ben paused, wringing his hands together once again. "O-Okay, well... w-why exactly are the cops chasing after you? I know you must've done something really really bad if they're putting all these big search parties out for you, so... what'd you do?" 

Jeff smirked. "Killed two people."

Ben's eyes widened. "What?!"

Jeff let out a laugh. "Why the fuck are ya so surprised? I literally stabbed you when I saw you in the woods!" 

"W-Well, yeah! B-But I thought that w-was out of self defense or something!" Ben stammered out. 

Jeff snorted. "Holy shit... nah, I'm just a guy who has major control issues. This isn't the first time somethin' like this has happened either - I've been ending lives since I was 14 years old. The cops love me." 

Ben stared at him, stunned. "How old are you now?"

"18. 19 in June." 

Ben nodded. "That's a lot of bodies." He said in shock. 

Jeff laughed. "No shit! I've loved every second of it, too!" He shook his head, letting out yet another laugh. "So... does this change your professional opinion on you wanting to help me? Now that you know that I'm a wanted serial killer?"

Ben looked off to the side, thinking. He then looked back at Jeff, a determined look on his face. "Nope." 

Jeff was shocked. "No?"

Ben shook his head. "Nope. I don't regret helping you at all." 

"Why the fuck not?" Jeff asked. _Is he fucking insane?! He better not wind up being some kind of undercover fanboy or some shit..._

Ben paused before speaking again. "Uh... w-well..." He started. 

"I-I personally like to believe that unless they've done something completely unforgivable, everyone deserves a second chance. That everyone can be redeemed in some way. There are a lot of people I've met who were like that and deserved way better, and a lot of people who... well, not so much. I feel like you're one of t-those people who does deserve a second chance. So I'm giving you one! Well, that and I kind of don't like being completely alone out here and being able to talk to somebody else who isn't trying to capture me is really nice, hehe." 

"Besides, I don't think I'd ever be able to forgive myself if I saw a guy get shot and pretended I didn't notice and left him to die." 

Jeff gaped at him, an unreadable expression on his face. "Wow... I feel like I'm gonna vomit." He said sarcastically. 

"Why? Are you okay?!" Ben said, concerned. He began to move other objects out of the bag. "I-If you need to, you can-!"

"I don't actually have to, it's an expression!" Jeff said, raising a palm up to the blonde. "It's just... that was mushy as all hell, y'know?" 

Ben gave him a confused look. "I-I don't really 'know...'" He said. "Does that sound dumb? I'm sorry if it does, I haven't talked to anyone in a while, so... I might miss some stuff. Sorry." 

_No shit ya haven't talked to anyone in a while, you're a ghost who wanders around the woods. Jeff thought._

"Well, uh... here's my next question: how old are you?" 

"14." 

"14?!" Jeff said, shocked. "Ya look like you're fuckin' 10!" 

"Yeah, I know. That's what sucks about being a ghost - your brain ages, but your body doesn't." Ben explained. 

That brought up another question. "If that's the case... how old were you when you died?"

Ben's face became one of sadness and gloom. He turned away from the killer, not looking at him. "I was 12." 

_Well damn, this got depressing._ Jeff thought. He thought the kid had just been, like... reborn after dying or some shit and that was why he was so young, but... 12 years old? Jeff refused to kill children under the age of 15, so hearing something like that tugged at his heartstrings a small bit, he wasn't going to lie. But it didn't mean he felt sympathy towards this kid. No way. 

"How'd you die?"

Ben's hands, which were placed in his lap, gripped tightly onto his tunic. They trembled slightly, like before when they were in the woods. 

"I don't w-wanna talk about it." He muttered quietly. His voice sounded shaky as he gave his response. There was a heavy silence in the air before Ben turned to face Jeff once again. 

"How many knives do you have?" 

Jeff was surprised at the sudden change in tone. "That's your million dollar question?"

"I don't understand that reference, but it's a question that I'd like an answer to, please." Ben replied. He suddenly covered his mouth with his hand in shock. "That sounded really mean I'msosorry-!" 

"Woah, you're good." Jeff replied. "And I have two on me right now. But I have a whole collection at home that's made up of about... 30? I think? I dunno, I'm gonna have to count 'em again." 

"You have a home?" Ben asked. Jeff nodded.

"Yeah, I live with this other guy who's kinda like a mom to me. He's a murderer too, in case you were wondering." Jeff said with a smirk. 

Ben's face deadpanned. "I wasn't, but continue." 

"That's really about it. Speaking of... what time is it? 'Cause I kinda promised him that I would be back by a certain time." Jeff asked. 

"I don't know about the exact time, but I think it's getting closer to the late afternoon or evening." Ben replied. 

"Shit... I'm gonna get yelled at for sure." Jeff muttered.

"Well, where do you live? Maybe I could help you find your way!" Ben offered.

Jeff shook his head. "It's complicated. And thanks, but you've done enough." 

Ben's slightly perky expression deflated a little bit. "Oh. Okay, that's fine! Um... let's see, what else did I want to ask you?" He hummed, thinking.

Jeff reached for the bag of skittles and took notice of something. Ben hadn't taken anything from the snack pile he'd brought. 

"Hey, I've got a question: why aren't you eating?" Jeff asked. 

"Hm?" 

"You brought this stuff. Aren'tcha gonna eat it?" Jeff asked, curious. 

"I wish I could. Ghosts can't eat." Ben replied.

"Really?" 

"Mhm. I've tried to before, it didn't work."

Jeff smirked. "What, does it just phase through your body?" He said with a laugh, half-joking. 

Ben cringed. "More like... it comes back out of my body." He said. Jeff looked at him confused, not getting the message until Ben made a faux gagging motion with his finger. 

"Aw, that's fuckin' nasty!" Jeff yelled. 

"You're the one who asked." Ben said with a shrug. He slapped his hands over his mouth once again. "Oh god, that sounded awful I'm sorry!" 

Jeff gave him a weirded out look. "Why the fuck are you apologizing?"

"What?"

"In almost every sentence you've said to me, you've followed up with the word 'sorry.' Why? You haven't really said anything wrong." Jeff explained. 

Ben's expression faltered. "B-But... the way I said some stuff sounded really mean..." 

"Nuh-uh." Jeff said, shaking his head. "I thought they sounded kinda funny if I'm being honest." He said. 

"R-Really?"

"Yeah! It's okay to have a little sass, kid. Sheesh." 

Ben blushed slightly, embarrassed. "O-Oh... I-I didn't know that. Thank you!" 

"You're... welcome?" Jeff said, not really knowing what he was thanking him for. 

Ben sighed. "I'm sorry, I used to get... yelled at for talking back to people, so I'm just used to apologizing, I guess." He explained.

Jeff furrowed his eyebrows together. "What do you mean?" He asked, curious. 

Ben opened his mouth, seemingly trying to come up with something to say. "I-I... j-just..." he paused, biting his lip. "N-Nothing. J-J-Just... the people I-I'm hiding from kinda... don't like it when I talk back. U-Unless I'm talked to and they tell me to say something." 

_The fuck?_ Jeff thought. _Who yells at a kid? Aside from my mom at me, obviously._

"Why do they yell at you?" He asked. Ben fell silent at that, his eyes widening in fear. 

"I-I... nothing. I-It doesn't matter." He said, looking down at his lap. 

Jeff wanted to press on, but he took one look at the kid's face and saw that he obviously didn't want to talk about it. He'd started theorizing about him in his head though, trying to connect the dots. He'd said he was 'hiding' from someone and that they didn't like it when he talked back. From the sound of it, it seemed like they made him apologize for stuff a lot. Was he with someone? Did he run away from home? A workplace? And if he's unkillable, then what's with the bruises on his skin? They probably have something to do with the people he's hiding from, too. 

"So... you're basically on the run, too?" Jeff asked. 

"You could say that, yeah." Ben said with a shrug. 

"Have you ever run away from anything before?"

Ben suddenly got this faraway look in his eyes, like he was remembering something. "Y- No." 

Jeff knew he was originally going to say yes, but didn't press him on it. "Welcome to the club, then." 

"W-What's that supposed to mean?" Ben asked.

"It means..." Jeff said, sitting up with slight difficulty. "I don't wanna stab the shit out of you as much as before." 

He began rising to his feet. "Whelp, I should start heading back now. Don't want EJ to freak out too much, heh." 

"Uh, are you sure you can walk? The stitches are still pretty fresh." Ben said, worried. 

"Kid, I've had stitches before. I can walk perfectly fine." He said. He brushed the hay off of his clothes and picked up his hoodie. 

"Okay... well, where are you gonna go?" Ben asked. "Because if you're gonna be going out in public I have another thing that I wanted to give you. It m-might be useful, I don't know." 

Jeff looked at him, curious. "What is it?" 

Ben went back to the plastic bag and grabbed something from the bottom of it. Upon first glance, it looked like just a small piece of black fabric. 

"The hell is that?" Jeff asked. 

"I-It's a mask!" Ben said, stretching it out. Once he did that, Jeff could now see that it was a plain black mask with two loops on the side that went around your ears, like something a doctor would wear. "I-I figured if you wore this, it'd cover up your... um..." He trailed off, looking at Jeff's face.

"My... scars?"

"Yeah! Because that's a pretty identifying trait of yours, if it were covered up then the cops wouldn't be able to spot you as easily!" Ben said with a smile. That smile quickly faded, however, and he shrunk back slightly. "Y-You don't have to wear it if you don't want to, I-I-I just thought-"

"Ben that's fucking genius!" Jeff said, cutting him off. 

Ben looked surprised. "Really?"

"Yeah! I'm surprised I didn't think of it myself!" Jeff said. He took the mask from Ben's hands and wrapped the loops around his ears, pulling the fabric up so that it covered his nose. He pressed a hand over where his scars were and low and behold, it covered up his smile perfectly. 

"Perfect." He muttered to himself, a small smile spreading across his face. "Thanks for your help. Really."

Ben gave a small smile. "No problem." 

Jeff sighed. "Well, kid. It's been fun." He said, beginning to walk towards the barn's doorway. Ben watched him walk, the slightest look of disappointment on his face. His ears drooped down slightly as he watched him go. 

Jeff placed his hands in the pocket of his hoodie. He'd done it. He was finally gonna be able to go home and see Smile, EJ and Seed again. Maybe if he told EJ he'd gotten shot, he'd cut him some slack and not yell at him. Yeah, he was usually vaguely chill like that. Emphasis on 'vaguely.'

As he stepped out of the barn and into the sun, a feeling began to blossom inside of him. It wasn't a feeling of bloodlust, he always knew what that felt like, but it was something else. Something... negative. It was sad, Jeff could place that, but he couldn't figure out what exactly it was or why he was feeling like this. He'd had a successful kill spree, he'd survived the gun shot, he'd gotten away from the cops, and now he was going home. So why the hell was he feeling this weird upset sadness?

 _Ya wouldn't have done all of that if it weren't for Ben._ His brain told him. _If he hadn't showed up, ya would've been either arrested or dead._

Jeff stopped walking and stood there, thinking. Usually, having company around was only going to drag him down and increase his chances of the cops finding him. But... Ben had somehow gotten rid of them. And he'd made sure he wasn't going to bleed out and die. And he'd stolen food for him. That and apparently he couldn't be killed, so if Jeff were to snap, which was unfortunately a common occurrence, Ben would still be alive. Plus, although he'd rather die than admit it, he felt just a little bad for leaving him like this after all he'd done for him. Just a sliver. 

_I'm probably gonna fucking regret this later, aren't I?_ Jeff thought. He sighed. _Stupid fucking emotions..._

"Hey, uh..." Jeff said, turning around to look at Ben. Ben perked his head up and looked at him curiously. 

"I've been doing some thinking, and uh..." Jeff started, scratching the back of his head. He sighed heavily. "Maybe having someone stick around to make sure my dumbass doesn't get arrested wouldn't be such a bad idea." 

Ben's eyes widened in realization, but he said nothing. 

Jeff smirked. "So... ya wanna come with or what?" 

Ben slowly got up. "D-Do you mean it? Do you... r-really want me to...?" 

"I'm not a nice guy. If I fuckin' say something, then I mean it." Jeff said.

Ben's face broke out into a big smile, bigger than the other half-smiles Jeff had seen on him. It was weirdly nice, seeing him genuinely smile like this. What the fuck is my brain on? He thought. 

Ben strode over to Jeff, his footsteps light and quick, reflecting his excitement perfectly. He stopped once he was by the killer's side, practically bouncing with excitement. 

"T-Thank you." Ben said shyly. 

Jeff rolled his eyes. "Don't mention it - just don't make me regret it or I _will_ find a way to kill you."


	7. The Unforsaken Road

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first part of this chapter contains misogynistic and abusive thoughts. Read at your own risk.   
> (They stop at the cross spacer if you would like to skip them)

Dark traced his fingers along the blade of his sword, deep in thought. He had just finished preparing everything he needed for the new mission. He didn't need much, he only needed his sword, a bunch of antiplasm, and his fighting skills. He was anxious to get started with the mission and bring Benjamin back to the Gate where he belonged. 

The shadow was experiencing many emotions at the moment. Pride for getting Zalgo to agree with him on his theory that Benjamin was in the Over Realm. Anger that Benjamin had escaped in the first place. Excitement for the thought of seeing him again and cornering him like a predator would with its prey. Using words to coax Benjamin into returning to them, convincing him that he was safest here with him. 

Dark smiled to himself as he remembered the first few times he'd had to talk to Benjamin. He was so naïve, so easy to work with. So easy to charm. He'd fallen for every single word that had left his mouth, even when there had been obvious red flags. Any time he grew suspicious, however, Dark would cover it up with a simple statement such as; "How rude. I've given you my trust, shouldn't you have trust in me as well? Or are you really that selfish?" Or something along those lines. 

He liked to think that it was because he was from Hyrule, the Zelda universe that Benjamin was so fond of. Dark couldn't understand why he liked that world so much - they didn't even have cell phones there. Of course, Dark did like certain things about that world, such as when Ganon would send him on a mission and he would almost kill his "good guy" counterpart Link, but for the most part it was quite boring. People there didn't seem to fall for his charm or tricks anymore. In this world, however, there were still stupid people. Dumb people like Benjamin, who was the stereotypical empty-headed blonde that had zero clue as to how the real world worked. Dark hoped to keep it that way for as long as possible - he wanted to keep Benjamin's innocence for himself. Yes, Zalgo would use his body from time to time in his quest to take over the Over Realm, but Dark knew that Benjamin's mind was his to toy with. No one else's, just his. Besides, his ectoplasm produced more power than any other cyber ghost he’d met before. Hunters and monsters alike would pay thousands of dollars for a power source like that. And here it was, all for themselves. 

Well, not as of right now. But it’d be brought back to them soon. 

A new emotion then made it's way into Dark's brain - frustration. He missed him, missed how all he had to do was say one sentence and use one touch and the foolish boy would be back under his spell. Back to doing as he was told without question. What troubled Dark the most was how Benjamin was nothing more than a stupid child with a hero complex and no idea how powerful he truly was, so how had he even managed to escape in the first place? 

He'd put Dr. Smiley in charge of giving him his sedatives each night and he always did them without fail, so what changed? Had they just... stopped working on him? No, that was impossible - antiplasm always worked against ghosts now matter what type or how powerful they were. The stuff was powerful, they called it Antiplasm for a reason. Had Dr. Smiley lied about giving him the proper sedative? No, he had no reason to. And besides, he'd had multiple witnesses there to watch him inject Benjamin with it. He'd definitely done it without a doubt. 

Then what had happened?

Dark continued to ponder on this for a while, trying to come up with a possible theory or scenario. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, snapping him out of his thoughts. The shadow rolled his eyes before turning to face the door to his bed chambers. 

"Come in." He said in an irritated tone of voice. 

The door opened and one of Zalgo's proxies stepped in - a girl, Dark was pretty sure her name was a number or something. Five? One? He couldn't remember. All he really focused on when it came to the ladies in the Gate were their figure, anyway. 

"Hey, Dark. Zalgo just wanted to know how close you are to being done." The girl said. 

"What, with preparing for the mission?" He asked.

The girl rolled her eyes. "No, with painting the Mona Lisa. Yes, preparing for the mission, you moron!" She snapped.

Dark glared at her. "Looks like it's someone's time of the month." He muttered.

The girl rolled her eyes, used to his harsh words but still mad nonetheless. "You know, the more you comment stuff like that the more I’m gonna snap at you, right? You act like a dick, I act like a dick right back." She crossed her arms. 

Dark let out a _hmph_. "Well, you are the one who barged into my room without warning like an annoying younger sibling. Maybe you should act less bitchy, hm?” 

The girl huffed. "You're such an asshole. I can’t believe Zalgo lets you stick around."

Dark smirked. "He does because he trusts me. And I just so happen to be one of the greatest proxies he’s ever had. You're just jealous because he appreciates me more than you. That's why you're angry, Five." 

"It's Zero!"

 _Zero!_ That was her name!

"Tch. Whatever. I'm done, just thinking to myself now." Dark responded. 

The girl - Zero - rolled her eyes. "Alright, well whenever you're done contemplating the meaning of life, come to the Execution Chamber. Zalgo wants to talk to everyone heading into the Over Realm before they go." 

Dark waved a hand dismissively at her. "Alright, alright, I'm on my way. Now leave." 

He then smirked in her direction. "Unless, of course, you want to stay a little longer and admit the fact that you’re jealous of me?"

Zero didn't say anything. Instead, she flipped him off and exited the room, slamming the door shut behind her. 

Tch. Girls. He thought to himself. 

Not really having anything else to do, Dark put his sword down and made his way to the room known as the Execution Chamber, eager to hear what Master Zalgo had planned. Both of his masters would get along quite well if they were able to meet, but alas, Dark was the only one who could travel between the two dimensions. It was a shame, really - Zalgo would thoroughly enjoy Ganon's company if he could, he was sure of it. 

He entered the large room, the demon overlord himself seated on a throne handcrafted out of human remains. This was where newcomers that would be entering hell not as damned souls, but as those that would punish damned souls would enter. They'd be given an opportunity to prove themselves by doing a live torture demonstration, showing Master Zalgo that they had what it took. If Zalgo was satisfied, he'd let them go. If he wasn't, he'd do a number of things to them. Kill them immediately, have someone come in and torture them, lock them up in a cell and keep them as a pet of sorts, the list goes on and on. It was also a room that was used for training sessions, when the proxies would practice their magic and hunting skills on prisoners of the Gate. It was built like a colosseum for a reason - everybody who dwelled here loved to watch blood be spilt. Especially when it was done by certain entities. 

Zalgo smiled once Dark entered the room, his multiple mouths grinning upwards and showing each of their sets of spiky, blood red teeth. Glitchy Red as well as a group of five shredders were in the chamber as well. The large, reptilian creatures stared at Dark with beady, predatory eyes. 

"Glad you could join us, Dark. Have you finished your preparations?" The demonic overlord asked. 

Dark bowed once he was in front of the demon. "Yes I have, Master."

"Good. Now, I have special instructions that I wish to give to both of you. This is for those of you capable of speech as well." 

Two of the shredders perked their heads up in order to listen to their creator. 

"You will be traveling to the Over Realm. You are going to be hunting down Benjamin. I trust you know what his scent is by now, yes?"

The two shredders nodded. "Yes, Master." They said in deep, demon-like voices. 

"You will not be allowed to return until you find him. Unless it is an absolute emergency." Zalgo explained. "Dark, you will report back to me each time a day in the Over Realm concludes. I want to hear anything and everything, even if it seems insignificant." 

"Of course, Master." Dark said with a smirk. Red rolled his eyes. 

"Good. Now, I will give you the coordinates to all the possible locations that he could be in right before you go. If he happens to enter an electronic device as you're searching, you will be notified immediately and told where at. He's only a child, so he shouldn't be too difficult to find, correct?"

"Yes, Master." Dark, Red and the shredders said in unison. 

"Now go. Find that cyber ghost, but do not kill him. We need him alive. Understood?"

"Yes, Master." Red said with a nod.

"We're allowed to get violent and hurt him though, right?" One of the shredders piped up. 

Zalgo smirked evilly. "You may use all the violence you wish to inflict upon him. Just as long as he's alive and able to be used and drained from later." 

The shredder grinned, exposing it's vast rows of sharp, orange teeth that were extremely similar to Zalgo's. "Thank you, Master. We won't disappoint you." 

Dark began to grin as well. He'd already known that violence would be permitted in Benjamin's capture, but hearing it be confirmed by the boss himself was like music to his ears. Nothing excited him more than the thought of that weak wannabe hero being forced to kneel before him, forced to give in and come back to being the tool he was meant to be. The thought of his bruised, bloody body combined with the look of defeat and utter despair was enough to motivate Dark into doing anything to get him back. Even if it would mean getting his hands dirty. 

Zalgo opened the doors leading to the Under Realm and the group set off. That devilish smirk never left Dark's face as he and one of the non-verbal shredders split away from the group and headed for one of the many vorpal trees that were in the Under Realm. He approached the tree, the shredder following close behind. 

The vorpal tree's bloodshot blue eye opened and stared at Dark with a gaze that would send any ordinary person running in the opposite direction screaming and possibly crying. Dark approached the eye, removing his glove in the process. He lifted his hand, exposing the mark of Zalgo that had been branded onto his left hand when he first became a part of his army. When he was in Hyrule, this brand turned into a copycat triforce symbol. It didn't actually contain the powers of the triforce, it was just to ensure that he was more similar to his "other self” according to Ganon. 

The eye looked at the mark and suddenly, the knot that had been below the eye began to expand and grow. Cracking and groaning of wood could be heard as the tree suddenly opened up into a bizarre portal, the insides looking almost like the entrance to a creature's throat. If throats were made of a glowing blue flesh-like material, that is. This was the portal that would lead him to the Over Realm. To Benjamin. To his prey. 

Dark chuckled as he stepped through the portal and into the Over Realm, the shredder following in tow. He was going to have so much fun carrying out Zalgo's orders and chasing Benjamin down. He was going to do it.

He was going to capture his prey and never let go until he had driven him to the breaking point. 

And there was nothing anybody could do to stop him. 

✞———————❖———————✞

The smell of old wood, blood, and metal filled Eyeless Jack's nostrils as he approached the building. Although he couldn't actually see it in front of him, he had the description that Jeff had given him multiple times memorized by now. It was a ramshackle old house that looked as though it had been left abandoned for years, at least on the outside. The porch has several rusty nails in the floorboards and had multiple dark stains covering it, most of which were from blood. The exterior walls of the house were made up of some kind of black wooden siding and it loomed over anybody who dared approach it. There were several windows, one on the porch that let you see into the kitchen when the curtains weren't drawn, and two on the second floor above a roof where people were known to sit from time to time. Overall, it looked like the kind of house that children would build an urban legend around, the kind that they would then proceed to dare their friends to go into on Halloween night. 

EJ stepped onto the porch steps, going slowly in order to avoid tripping. The first few times he'd come here, he'd had to use the railing that gave him a splinter every single time he placed a hand on it in order to ascend them, prompting him to remember to bring his gloves each time he came here. Now though, since he came around more often to deliver organs and other goods to some of the residents that lived in the house, he no longer needed the railing. 

The half-demon approached the door, taking a deep breath in.

_All you have to do is go in, ask if they're here, then get them to come out. If you're quick, you'll be able to avoid him. If he's here. (Please don't be here.)_

EJ raised a gloved fist and knocked on the door, hoping that anybody but the House's owner would answer. After a few brief seconds, the door swung open. 

"Oh, hey Eyeless." A feminine voice called. 

EJ breathed a sigh of relief as he heard the instantly recognizable voice. "Hey, Angels." 

"What're you doing here? Did Helen ask for extra blood or something?" Diana asked. "From what I remember, I don't think he's working on any big projects..."

EJ shook his head. "No, actually, I'm looking for Silver. Are they here?" 

Diana raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, they're in their room. Just out of curiosity, why do you want to see them?" 

"Oh... no reason. Just wanted to talk to them." The half-demon responded. Diana squinted her eyes, knowing that there was more to the story than EJ let on. She didn't pry, however, and simply opened the door the rest of the way. 

"Okay. Come in then."

"Hey, by the way..." EJ started, stopping her before she could walk away. 

"Slenderman isn't here, is he?" He asked.

Diana started to shake her head before remembering that EJ couldn't see her. "No. He took Toby, Tim and Brian out on a mission a while ago." She said. "Not sure when they'll be back." 

EJ nodded. Phew.

"Good, I don't want him to know I was here." 

Diana smiled and nodded. "Understandable. He can be quite the headache sometimes." 

EJ smiled, although it wasn't visible underneath his mask. "Alright, I'll go now." 

Diana bid him goodbye before going back into the kitchen to finish the snack she had been making. EJ made his way down the hall, passing by a multitude of doors. He stopped when he was in front of the 4th door on the left, where he could hear music quietly playing from inside. He smiled to himself before gently knocking on the door. 

"Who's there?" A voice asked.

"It's Jack. Eyeless Jack." EJ answered.

"Oh, hey! Come on in!" The voice replied, instantly gaining excitement. EJ turned the doorknob and was hit with the aroma of new electronics and some kind of minty, pine needle-type scent. The music had gotten louder as well. It wasn't blasting, but it was at a comfortable volume where you could still hear yourself think and enjoy the song at the same time. 

"Hey, EJ!" The voice said, coming from somewhere towards the half-demon's front left, where he knew a desk and chair were located. 

He took his mask off and smiled in that direction. He couldn't actually see Lost Silver due to his lack of sight, but he'd had Jeff describe them to him before. They were very pale, their skin almost white, with glowing red eyes. The part of their eyes that were supposed to be white were black, matching their short and straight hair that usually covered one of their eyes. They had no limbs due to an unfortunate accident inside of their cartridge, but had two silver leg prosthetics that they would sometimes wear in order to get around when they couldn't levitate. They were typically seen wearing a backwards baseball cap similar to a character from Pokémon and a white hoodie with small black shorts. The sleeves of the hoodie, like most of the cyber ghost's long sleeved tops, had been torn off in order to allow more freedom and less of a tripping or tangling hazard. Overall, they sounded like they looked really cool and they made EJ wish that he could regain his eye sight just to look at them, even if it was only for a few minutes. 

"Hey, Silver! How's it going?" EJ said, closing the door behind him. 

"It's... okay, I guess." Silver replied. "I'm just erasing the surveillance footage from the last mission. Gotta make sure the cops don't find out about us, heh." 

"Yeah." EJ remained silent for a moment, listening to the song that was playing. "What're you listening to?"

"Just a casual playlist. The song playing right now is Ghosting by Mother Mother, one of my all-time favorites by them." Silver answered. 

EJ nodded and inhaled deeply, taking in the sweet, calming aroma in the room. "Lemme guess... that Christmas tree one you're obsessed with?" 

Silver looked from him to the scented candle that was burning away on the desk next to them. "Damn, you're getting better and better." They said with a smile. "You're also the first person to not yell at me for burning a Christmas-themed candle in the middle of May."

"Hey, I'm not here to criticize your choices. Buuut, Halloween is better." EJ said.

"Halloween is my favorite too! I just really like the smell of Christmas!" Silver said, faking offense. 

"Suuure you do." EJ said jokingly. 

Silver let out a laugh, the sound instantly bringing a smile to EJ’s face. "Alright, you obviously didn't come in here to make small talk. What's up?"

"Yeah, um... I've come to ask you for a favor." The half-demon spoke.

"A favor?" Silver questioned. "What kind of favor?" 

"Uh..." EJ trailed off, falling silent in order to listen outside. "Real quick, how soon do you think Slender is gonna be back?"

"Probably within the next 10 minutes. They've been gone for a few hours now." Silver replied.

"Okay, uh... can you levitate or do you wanna wear your legs?"

"Are we just going to your place?"

"Yeah. I'll explain on the way there. I just don't want Slender to hear about it because... well, you know how he is." 

"Alright! Just give me a minute to finish erasing all this and then I'll be out." 

~~~

"He's really not back yet?" Silver said, surprised. 

EJ shook his head. "No. He'd usually be back by now, and he hasn't even called once." 

The two of them were now walking through the Under Realm on their way to EJ's house. Well, EJ was walking. Silver was levitating above the ground, their prosthetics in a small bag that EJ was carrying. To anyone who didn't know what they were looking at, the bag and prosthetics would look similar to that of a golfer's bag, complete with clubs. 

"Hm." Silver said, thinking. "Have you gone to the Over Realm to look for him yet?" 

"No. It's daytime there by now, I don't do well going there in the daytime." EJ explained. He shook his head. "It's louder and I'd get spotted way too easily." 

Silver hummed. "Well... it is Jeff. Maybe he's holed up in one of his victim's houses for the night or something?" 

EJ shook his head once again. "He would've called by now. And he hasn't done that in almost a year." 

He sighed. "I just hope nothing happened to him... yeah, he's a pain in the ass, especially when he sneaks out like this, but he can be good. That's why I took him in." 

"Don't worry, Eyeless. I'll help you find him." Silver reassured. 

"Find who?"

Silver and EJ yelped and spun around once they heard the voice, startled out of their minds. Once they saw (or heard in EJ's case) the man it belonged to, however, their faces quickly went from surprise to annoyance. 

"God dammit LJ, don't do that!" Silver said, shaking their head. 

Laughing Jack let out a cackle as he observed the ghost and half-demon's reactions, slapping a hand over his head. 

"Hahahaha! You should've seen your faces!" The clown said loudly, laughing some more. 

EJ readjusted his mask and tilted his head up at the inhuman entity. According to Jeff and other's descriptions, Laughing Jack, or "other Jack," as he sometimes jokingly called him, was a 7 foot tall clown man who gave anyone who laid eyes on him the creeps. He was entirely black and white, there was no color on him at all whatsoever. He was very skinny and had long, lanky arms and legs. Instead of regular fingers, he had black claws that were wrapped in bandages around the palm of his hands and up to his wrists. His hair was black, came down to his shoulders, and was always very messy and unkempt. He had the typical clown pattern on his face - diamonds around his eyes, "colored" lips, and a striped cone nose that was rumored to honk if you squeezed it. Although no one had ever tried it without getting severely injured. It was also rumored that he had bitten a child's finger off with his extremely sharp teeth because they had decided to honk the nose, but no one could prove that it was true. He had large black feathers on his shoulders and wore a typical clown outfit - suspenders, stripes, funky socks and shoes - nothing really out of the ordinary for a clown. He smelled like sugary carnival snacks, like cotton candy and kettle corn. Usually, EJ could smell him coming when he was only a few feet away, but this time LJ had somehow managed to sneak up on both of them without the half-demon noticing. 

"What're you doing out here, LJ?" EJ asked.

"I was just on my way to do a killing spree!" He said in his rough, heavily accented voice. "I was just going to be on my merry way and leave the two of you alone, but then I overheard you talking about something that sounded too interesting to ignore, sooooo what were you talking about?" 

"You gonna tell him?" Silver asked EJ. EJ sighed and nodded.

"Jeff snuck out last night and didn't come home."

LJ's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yeah, we were gonna go to EJ's place to talk about it and discuss what all to do. We're pretty sure he's somewhere in the Over Realm, but the question is where exactly he is." Silver explained. 

"Oh wow, so you're saying Jeff is... missing?" LJ asked.

"Don't say it like that!" EJ said. "It makes it sound more... terrifying."

"Aww, you're like a mother who's just lost a child!" LJ teased.

"Jack, please be serious!" EJ said, his tone urgent.

"Alright, alright, fine. I guess I'm a little concerned for him, too. He's a good killing partner, I would hate for something unfortunate to happen to him..." LJ said. 

"Alright, you know the situation now, just don’t tell Slender. We’re leaving." EJ said. They were about to start walking away from the clown when he suddenly called out; "Wait!"

They turned around to face him.

"I'd like to come too."

EJ and Silver stared at him in silence. 

"What? He's a friend of mine, too, I'd like to make sure he's alright and not dead in a bloody ditch somewhere!" The clown said, crossing his arms.

"Weren't you just about to go on a kill spree?" Silver asked. 

"Psh, I can kill children any time! It's not like there's ever a shortage of those filthy brats..." LJ angrily muttered that last part to himself. "Plus, I overheard you saying that you're not too good up there when it's daytime, correct? Well, I just so happen to be an expert at avoiding humans during the day! So... whaddya say?" 

EJ raised an eyebrow, suspicious. "You go to the Over Realm during the day?"

"Where the hell did you think I was going just now? Oz?" The clown said sarcastically. "And how else do you think I kill those rotten, worm-filled gremlins? I have to gain their trust first! If you were a naïve child who hadn't been given the whole 'stranger danger' talk yet, which would you trust more: A clown that approaches you during the day or a clown that approaches you in the middle of the night?" 

EJ sighed heavily. "Fine. But don't get us sidetracked. We have to focus on finding him, alright?" 

"Alrighty!" LJ shouted, startling Silver. He then joined the duo as they walked, all the while talking about how he and Jeff were definitely gonna go on a kill spree together once he was found.

 _It’s going to be a very long day..._ EJ thought to himself, already getting a headache from the clown's voice. His mind wandered to Jeff, specifically what he was doing at this exact moment. 

_Whatever he's doing... wherever he is... I just hope he's okay._


	8. You Can’t Swim, You Can’t Dance, and You Don’t Know Karate

"Can I ask you a possibly personal question?" Ben said suddenly. 

They were walking on the side of a dirt road in the middle of some kind of countryside, a large grassy field next to them. The woods that they had been running in earlier was across the road, the thick trees and bushes swaying in the breeze. Ben had explained that he had found this place a while ago and that there was a town not too far from here - it was about a half and hour's walk. He'd brought Jeff here because of the seclusion and figured it'd be highly unlikely that he would get caught here. 

Jeff gave him a quizzical look. "What's it to ya?" He asked.

Ben's ears drooped. "N-Nothing, it's just... something I've been wondering for a while." He said nervously. 

Jeff hummed in thought. "Only if I get to ask you one too." 

Ben looked up at him. "That's fair." 

"Alright; fire away." Jeff said. 

"Um... how exactly did you, um... what, uh..." 

Ben mumbled before taking a deep breath in. "Whydoesyourfacelooklikethat?" He instantly slapped a hand over his mouth, eyes going wide. "I-I-I meant to ask that in a nicer way, oh god, I'm-!"

"Dude, calm the fuck down." Jeff said, cutting him off before he could apologize. He smirked to himself, pulling the mask down momentarily.

"So, ya wanna know how I got these scars?" He said, smiling to himself. Ben nodded, a slightly confused expression on his face due to Jeff's phrasing. 

_He didn't get the fuckin' reference-_ Jeff thought, slightly disappointed. "Well, it's kinda simple, really - I picked a fight with the wrong kid, he got pissed because I won, and he and his merry band of bitches got their revenge." 

Ben looked at him, perplexed. "W-What did they do, exactly?"

"Ever poured bleach and alcohol on a person?" Jeff said. Ben shook his head vigorously. "Well, imagine this older kid - like 17-18 years old - doing that to a 14 year old. That's what was going on. He finished his petty revenge bullshit, the pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He asked his buddy to light him up, cuz he had the lighter. The other guy grabbed the lighter from his pocket, lit it, and accidentally fucking dropped it." Jeff said. He then pointed at himself. "And it landed on me."

Ben gasped, holding his hands up over his mouth. 

"I don't know if you know this..." Jeff said. "But alcohol and fire aren't exactly two things ya wanna combine. Unless, if course, you're lookin' to commit arson. Next thing I knew, I was covered in flames." He finished. 

"Oh my god... Jeff, that's awful, I'm so sorry!" Ben exclaimed. 

"Eh, don't be. Happened forever ago." Jeff said. "Plus, the crazy part is that my skin didn't react like it normal would've. Instead of turning all crusty and burnt up like Freddy Kruger, it turned fuckin' white. Like, paper white. No one knew why, it was a medical mystery. It didn't seem to have any horrible side effects or anything like that though, so they let me go and said that they were gonna do tests and shit some other time." 

"Woah..." Ben said in awe. 

"But these-" Jeff said, gesturing to his carved smile. "We're done by yours truly." 

Ben's eyes widened. "You did that to yourself?!" He said, shocked. 

"Mhm. Had one hell of a mental breakdown." He said. "I just took a pair of scissors and ft - made myself look like Batman's arch nemesis. After that, I did my first kill and... life just went from there." 

Ben gaped up at him in awe. "Holy crap, that... that's insane." He said. "Those kids were awful to you, I'm sorry." 

"Psh, I found 'em and killed 'em a while ago, it's fine." Jeff said, shrugging. Ben looked uncomfortable.

"Oh? What, does me talking about murder upset you?" He teased. 

"N-No." Ben said, looking off to the side. 

Jeff grinned. "It totally does!" He exclaimed. 

Ben bit his lip. "I-I-I just... haven't heard about it in a while, that's all." 

Jeff's smile faded. "What do you mean by that?"

Ben shook his head. "Another entity used to... actually, never mind. It's not important. Um, you said you wanted to ask me something, too?" He said, changing the subject. 

"Uh... oh, yeah!" Jeff said, taking a moment for him to remember what he'd wanted to ask. "Who're you 'hiding' from?" 

"What?" Ben asked him. 

"You said you were on the run too, but obviously not from the cops." Jeff said. "So who're you running from?"

Ben looked off to the side, away from Jeff. "You wouldn't believe me." He muttered. 

"Dude, you're a ghost who can throw shit with your mind." Jeff said. "At this point, I'll believe whatever you throw at me. So who - or what - are you running from?" 

Ben bit his lip. "A demon... a really powerful one. His name's Zalgo." 

Jeff stopped in his tracks. "Wait - Zalgo, like, gateway to Hell, works for Satan, that Zalgo?" Jeff asked.

Ben turned to face him. "Wait, do you know him?" He asked, face filled with fear. 

"I don't know the guy, I've just heard a lotta shit about him." Jeff said, gawking at the kid in awe. "You escaped from Zalgo?!"

Ben nodded. "Yeah. I still don't really know how I did, to be honest. It's a miracle I haven't been found yet." He said sadly. 

"How long were you there before you escaped?" 

"2 years." 

"2 fucking years?!" 

Ben nodded. "I couldn't take it. I just... I had to leave." He said. Jeff thought he could see the red part of his eyes dimming slightly, like someone had taken a light dimmer and turned it down.

"Holy fuck... that's impressive that ya got out, though. I heard that security was tight as hell in there."

Ben nodded slowly. "It is. The people there aren't very nice, either." He began tracing his fingers along one of the bruises on his wrist, a far away look in his eyes. "They hurt you for everything. Even when you do a good job." 

"Sheesh, kid. No wonder ya don't wanna be found - I don't know a lot about the guy, but I've heard that he's a huge dick." Jeff said.

"Yeah..."

Ben gazed at him with a confused and wary look. "How do you know who Zalgo is anyway?" 

"Who in the Under Realm doesn't know about Zalgo?" Jeff replied. "He's all anyone talks about! Zalgo this, Zalgo that, blah blah blah! It's annoying as all hell." 

"Wait- you're from the Under Realm?" Ben said, stunned.

"Yep. Didn't wanna mention it at first 'cause I didn't think ya knew what it was, but yeah - I live in the Under Realm." Jeff said, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. 

"Woah... wait, why're you still here then? Shouldn't you be going back by now?" Ben asked. 

"I would if I could. But unless you're a part of a higher being's alliance, which I conveniently am not, you can't access the portals during the day. In other words, I'm stuck here until night." Jeff said with a frown. 

"Oh... well that sucks."

"Yessiree."

They could now see the town from where they were standing. It looked like a small downtown type of area, with shops lining each other like an old fashioned city. Cars and people milled about on the road and sidewalks, but not a ridiculously large amount of them. It seemed quite peaceful down there, the late afternoon sun beating down on it gently. 

"I'm assuming that's it?" Jeff said. Ben nodded once.

"Yep! It's actually a very nice town, I've been here myself several times since running." Ben replied. Jeff started to walk again before he was suddenly stopped by Ben. 

"Wait. You're not actually going to go there like that, are you?"

Jeff gave him a quizzical look. "What do you mean?" He asked. 

Ben gave him a once-over. "Um... if they hear about a wanted murderer on the run, don't you think people would be keeping their eyes peeled for anyone who looks suspicious?" 

"...Yeah? That's why you gave me the mask, isn't it?" Jeff said, having no clue what the hell he was talking about. 

Ben shook his head. "I'm no expert on murder, but I don't think strolling into a crowded area with a bloodstained hoodie is going to look completely natural." 

Jeff looked down at himself. _Oh._

"...Yeah. That's not gonna look too good, is it?" He said. Ben smiled lightly and shook his head. 

"Fuck... well, what do I do about it? I don't wanna just leave it here!" Jeff complained.

Ben hummed in thought before seemingly remembering something. "You got any quarters on you?" He asked. 

"Uh, yeah, why?"

"There's a laundry place not too far from here. You can wash your hoodie in there!" 

"Kid, I dunno if you're ever tried to wash a stain out of a white cloth, but it's fucking impossible. Especially if it's blood. Trust me, I know." Jeff said, pulling at his hoodie to show him. By now, the bloodstains from last night's victims had turned a brownish color and the faded stains of previous victims from over the years were still on the jacket. 

"Oh. Hmmm...." Ben thought quietly to himself, his previous idea having been shot down. "Well, I still think it's a good idea to wash it. You just spent the night running in the woods, then hid in a barn, and now you're walking on a dirt road. Even without the blood, it'd be pretty dirty." 

"Okay, then how would we explain the bloodstains, dipshit?" Jeff said.

Ben winced ever so slightly at the foul language. "By lying. Tell them that you had an accident and you just got back from the hospital. That would also explain your mask." 

Jeff opened his mouth to argue but stopped once he registered Ben's words. It was actually a pretty smart plan, he wasn't going to lie. He frowned at this. Why was this kid being so helpful? And why did he not hate having him around so much?! He didn't need anyone else, he could handle himself perfectly fine! He probably could've come up with a plan like that by himself! 

"Y'know what? Sure. That'll work." Jeff said. "But here's another question: if by some miracle they don't question me, then how in the hell are they not gonna question you?" He pointed a finger at Ben, skeptical. "Ya look like a demonic Christmas elf." 

"By doing this." Ben said simply. He closed his eyes for a second and when he opened them again, suddenly his eyes looked normal. The black part was now white and the red part was now a deep blue color, complete with an actual pupil this time.

"Woah!" Jeff exclaimed. "How the hell did you do that?!" 

"Practice. I also tell people that everything from the ears to the blood to the bruises are a part of a costume. Apparently there's all sorts of hobbies where people make and buy costumes for entertainment purposes and cool stuff like that, it actually seems really really fun - anyway! People don't bat an eye afterwards!" Ben said with a smile. 

Jeff gave a small smirk. "Huh. You really thought this through, didn'tcha?" 

Ben blushed again, embarrassed. "I-I'm not super smart or anything like that, I-I-I just have a habit of planning ahead and overthinking and stuff." He said shyly.

Jeff nodded, a smile slowly spreading across his face. "Well, keep doing it. It's pretty damn helpful." 

They continued to walk towards the town, making light conversation as they went. When they got closer, Jeff took off his hoodie and balled it up around his arm, now carrying it and hiding the bloodstains as best as he possibly could. They soon entered the town, the people around them giving them a couple of strange looks due to their appearances but nothing more. It was like Ben had said - they didn't even bat an eye. 

Ben showed him the way to a laundromat, holding open the glass door for the killer. It was one room that looked like someone had combined a gym locker room with a school hallway and replaced the lockers with washers and dryers. There were benches dead center in the room for people to sit at with boxes of magazines, children's toys, and a TV mounted on the wall for entertainment. There were only two other people in the building, one being a woman on her phone and the other being a man unloading his laundry from one of the dryers. Neither of them even glanced in their direction when they entered. 

Jeff approached one of the washers and began the process of placing his hoodie inside of it. Ben had a seat at one of the benches, his feet hovering above the ground slightly due to his height. 

"Why does your shirt say 'I'm not okay?'" Ben asked suddenly. Jeff turned around and gave him a confused look. "What?"

"Your shirt. What does that mean?" Ben asked.

Jeff looked down at his shirt and remembered what he'd been wearing. "It's lyrics from a song by My Chemical Romance. They're a band." Jeff turned and set the wash time for 15 minutes before sitting on the bench next to Ben. 

"A... band?" Ben asked, confused. Jeff's face deadpanned. 

"Don't tell me you don't know what a band is." He said.

"No, no, I know what a band is! I've just never heard of that one before. It's a pretty weird name for a band." Ben replied. 

"Please. There are far weirder band names out there. And this-!" He pointed to his shirt. "Is one of the best ones to ever exist." 

"What kind of music do they play?" Ben asked. 

Jeff grinned. He pulled his phone and earbuds out and held them up to Ben. "Wanna listen for yourself?" 

Ben gave a small confused smile. "Sure?" 

Jeff held one of the earbuds out to the cyber ghost, who took it and stared at it. 

"Ya put that in your ear." Jeff explained, placing his own earbud in his ear. Ben watched him before doing the same thing.

"Like this?" He asked. Jeff nodded.

Ben smiled and readjusted himself on the bench. Jeff pulled up his playlist solely dedicated to MCR and scrolled down until he found the song he was looking for. 

"Ya ready?" He asked. Ben nodded. Jeff smiled.

"This first song is what the shirt I'm wearing is quoting. It's called _I'm Not Okay (I Promise)_."

Ben scrunched up his nose in confusion. "Why is it called that?"

Jeff shrugged. "Why not?" 

He pressed play and the first few chords of the song soon filled the two's ears. This caused Ben's eyes to widen. Jeff smiled at this reaction.

"It gets better, just wait." He said quietly. The rest of the opening music soon came in and the blonde began to lightly nod his head to the music. He grinned at the killer, his blue eyes shining. 

"You like it?" Jeff asked. Ben nodded.

"Hell yeah, best damn music of all time!" Jeff said excitedly. "Just wait until he starts singing!"

~~~

15 minutes and an extra 20 minutes waiting for the hoodie to dry later, Ben was humming the tune to Summertime and bopping his head around as they exited the laundromat. The sky was now an array of oranges, blues, and purples thanks to the sunset gradually settling in on the horizon. Due to this lateness, the crowds of people started dwindling down to fewer numbers. In fact, the sidewalk they were currently walking on was completely empty. 

"Why are their songs so catchy? I really like them!" Ben said excitedly. Jeff grinned, his now clean and warm hoodie tied around his waist once again. There were still remnants of the victim's blood on the white fabric, but now they were extremely faint and hard to see. 

"Right? I'm telling you, they make fuckin' art!" Jeff said excitedly. "People can make fun of me for being 'emo' or whatever, but they've gotta admit - MCR has a lot of good bangers." 

Ben gave him a quizzical look once again. "What's a banger?" 

"Another word for a good song. Same thing as a bop." Jeff said. Ben nodded in understanding. 

"So what kinda music do you like listening to?" Jeff asked. 

Ben hummed in thought. "Dunno. There's this one person I found on a site called Bandcamp with the name Cavetown who makes some pretty nice songs. They aren't anything like MCR's songs, they're actually really calming and... what's the word, nostalgic? I dunno, but I really like their music!" 

"What's your favorite song by them?" 

"Hm, probably Unpopular boy makes a friend. It's really nice!" Ben said with a smile.

"Cool!" Jeff said with a nod. 

They continued walking through the town, Ben enthusiastically talking about this Cavetown guy as they moved. Jeff couldn't help but notice that his timid, shy demeanor had almost disappeared as he talked, his hands and body becoming more animated as time progressed. He seemed... happy. And for some odd reason, the sight made Jeff happy. He had no idea why, there was just something about the carefree, child-like joy on the blonde's face that made him feel good. Like he was glad that the kid finally had something to smile about after his whole ordeal at the Gate. He then began to wonder what exactly they had done to him down there . He had talked about them hurting him and yelling at him when he did something wrong, but what exactly had he done if anything? What did they tell him to do?

"Hey, kid!"

A deep, gruff and hoarse voice made both boy's heads turn to their right. There was a dark alleyway where a guy was sitting up against a brick wall. The man appeared to be homeless, for his clothes were tattered, his face was dirty, and he was sitting on a pile of newspapers that looked as though they had been worn out for quite some time. He had a long, curly black beard that looked as though it hadn't seen a comb in years. He was wearing a pair of battered, old sunglasses, so the pair couldn't see his eyes. But he tilted his head in their direction, so they assumed he was looking at them. 

"Um, can I help you?" Ben said, taking a few steps closer towards the man. Jeff had no idea why, but there was something about this guy that just seemed... off. He didn't have any particular reason to feel this way about him, he just had this weird feeling that something about this guy was wrong, and it wasn't the fact that he was homeless. Hell, Jeff had been in that exact same position before, so he knew it wasn't that. Then what the hell was it?

"Hi, sorry to bother ya, but uh..." The man said in a low voice. He scratched at his beard, seemingly hesitant to say anything. "Do I know you?"

Ben became confused. "No, I don't think you do. I'm sorry." 

"Are you sure? 'Cause ya look really familiar to me." 

Jeff looked at the man suspiciously. Ben had said that he hadn't interacted with anyone outside of the Gate before, so unless Ben reminded this guy of someone there was no way that Ben should know him. 

"I'm sorry, sir, I don't know you." Ben replied. 

The man frowned. "Ah. Oh well, sorry, I just thought you were somebody I was looking for." 

"Oh, who're you looking for?" Ben asked. 

"An old friend of mine. I've got a picture of them in my jacket, if ya wanna look at it real quick..." The man said. "It's small though, and kinda beat-up looking." 

"Oh, okay! Can I see it?" Ben said. The man gestured for Ben to come closer so he could see it. 

Alarms began to go off in Jeff's head. Yeah, he seemed nice enough, but there was no reason for him to tell Ben to get closer just so he could look at a picture. And why was he only looking at Ben? He hadn't even thrown a glance in Jeff's direction. Something wasn't right. 

Jeff quickly grabbed Ben by the shoulder, stopping him from advancing any further. Ben flinched dramatically and looked up at Jeff, eyes wide with confusion. Jeff didn't look at him though. He just glowered down at the man, trying to analyze the guy for anything else sketchy. 

"I think we're good. You should probably talk to the cops about it instead of us." Jeff said. He looked down at Ben. "Let's go." 

He began to guide him away from the man when all of a sudden, the guy's arm seemed to extend and grow longer, long enough to reach up and quickly grab Ben's wrist. This caused the cyber ghost to gasp and lose the disguise on his eyes, the glowing red hue returning. He stared at the man, fear evident on his face. 

"I'm afraid I'm gonna have to insist." The man's voice said, quickly becoming not hoarse at all and instead deep and menacing. 

Suddenly, before the killer's eyes, the man's hand began to shift. It was like he was watching a person grow in stop motion, the bones in his hand appearing to extend into something much larger. It changed from a gloved human hand to a set of huge, sharp black claws latched around the cyber ghost's wrist. His entire body had started to change as well, his sunglasses falling away and revealing a set of glowing orange eyes that looked almost reptilian. The man's skin turned into a dark scale-like texture and his mouth began to fill with razor sharp teeth. The clothes he - it - had been wearing appeared to melt away, exposing the creature in front of them. Now they were looking at some kind of black and orange lizard monster thing. It had a long, black tail, a set of five mouths on its chest, and claws on both its arms and its legs. It grinned up at Ben, who gasped in terror once the creature revealed itself. 

"Hello again, Benjamin. It's so nice to finally find you."


	9. Run Boy Run

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the late update, I had plans yesterday and was completely out of energy by the time I was done so I didn’t really have time to update. But hey! Here’s the chapter now!  
> I hope you enjoy! :)

Ben's eyes widened as he gasped and took a step backwards, a terrified look on his face. Jeff stepped back as well, having no idea what the fuck he was looking at. He didn't know what this thing was, but it didn't take a genius to realize that this creature was probably looking for Ben.

Which meant that it had to be working for Zalgo.

"Master is very angry with you, Benjamin." The creature spoke, it's voice now deeper and raspier than it had been before. It's grip on Ben's wrist tightened. Ben struggled and tried to pull away but it was no use - the creature's grip was too strong. 

"P-Please let go." The kid stammered out, his words riddled with fear. Ben's entire body was trembling and, for the first time in years, Jeff didn't like it. Jeff, the sadistic murderer who loved seeing others in pain, was currently watching someone writhing in discomfort and he didn't like it. He couldn't place why, but at that moment he didn't care. He just wanted to get the kid away from this thing. 

"Oh, I don't think so." The monster hissed. It suddenly pulled Ben closer to its body, causing Ben to let out a yelp. It began to pull something out from behind itself. Whatever it was Jeff didn't know because before he could even process what he was doing, he grabbed his knife from out of his pocket and quickly stabbed the creature's arm, causing it to let out a shriek of agony. Bright yellow blood began to leak out of it's arm as Jeff violently ripped the knife out. It dropped Ben's arm in an instant and Ben pulled away, rubbing his wrist while staring at the whole scene with widened eyes. 

"We're leaving." Jeff stated, looking at Ben. He quickly grabbed him by the shoulder and was beginning to escort him out of the alleyway when he felt something violently tug on his shirt from behind. He was suddenly dragged backwards and thrown to the ground, landing on his back with a loud thud. It knocked the wind out of him, causing him to lay there helplessly. The reptilian creature stood over him, its orange eyes glowering down at him. 

"I don't think you're going anywhere." The thing taunted, wielding a dagger in front of him. It was unlike anything Jeff had ever seen before - the blade itself was black, but had these odd, softly glowing magenta streaks throughout it, similar in pattern to marble. The handle was also black, but it didn't look like any ordinary knife handle. It looked like the handle of a sword, like something straight out of a fantasy movie. 

Whatever it was, it was heading straight for Jeff's skull at top speed. 

But before it could hit its target, the monster was suddenly lifted and tossed backwards into the alley. It flew for at least 10 feet before landing in the back with a thud. Jeff, slowly regaining his breath, looked ahead of him and saw that Ben was standing before him. He had his arm and palm outstretched and had a newfound look of determination on his face. 

The cyber ghost then looked down at Jeff, worry crossing his features. "Are you okay?" He asked, extending a hand to help him up. Jeff grabbed onto it and used it to lift himself up, grunting as he stood up.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He responded. "So what the hell is-?"

He was cut of by a loud raging yell coming from behind him. He whirled his head around just in time to see that the monster had gotten back on its feet and was now hurtling towards them, its arm still bleeding profusely. Before Jeff could even do anything, the thing was suddenly stopped in its tracks, a soft green glow emanating from its body. Jeff glanced back at Ben and saw that his arm was outstretched again, glaring at the monster. His hands were trembling, wether that was from anxiety or the fact that he was holding the thing at bay Jeff couldn't tell, but he watched as Ben took a few steps forward until he was in front of the killer, the creature floating backwards as he moved. 

"I'm not going back." He said strongly. "Not ever. And you can't make me." 

The lizard-like being looked at Ben, shock on its features. That shock was quickly replaced with a grin as it let out a laugh. Ben deflated a little when it did this, his ears drooping slightly. 

"You really think that you can escape us, Zombie?" The creature taunted. "Hah! You can never escape Lord Zalgo! He'll always find you, no matter where you run to!" 

"He's n-n-not gonna find me this time!" Ben said, his brave composure falling slightly. He was terrified of this thing, anyone could see that. It really made Jeff wonder what all they did to him downstairs. 

"Oh really? If you're so confident that he's not gonna find you, then go ahead! Crush my bones! Snap my neck! Do your worst, like you did to those filthy sinners downstairs!" The monster barked. 

Jeff looked at Ben, surprised. _What is he talking about?_ Jeff thought. _This kid can't actually kill... right? This asshole’s gotta be lying!_

In every single encounter he'd had with Ben, the kid always made sure that if he absolutely had to hurt someone that they wouldn't die or be too gravely injured. Jeff had originally thought that it was a power thing and that he didn't have enough juice to do it, but now he began to wonder if Ben had the power to kill people this entire time and just never used it. 

"Get rid of the evidence, Zombie! C'mon! Then Master Zalgo really won't find you!" The thing yelled. 

The monster smirked as Ben's frown deepened, his hands beginning to tremble even more. He bit his lip nervously, looking down at the ground before looking back up towards the creature, who remained dormant in the air. He blinked rapidly as he stared at the creature, his eyes beginning to water slightly. 

"I..." He started, but paused, looking away once again.

"Hey douchebag, what the hell do you want from him anyway? He's just a kid!" Jeff snapped, deciding that he'd had enough. The kid was about to cry, for fuck's sake. 

The monster looked at him, surprised that Jeff had decided to speak up. It then let out a horrendously loud laugh, as though it had just watched the funniest internet video ever. 

"'He's just a kid!'” It bellowed mockingly. “Holy fuck, do you really think that matters to us?! Hell no! Power is power! What does matter is that Benny Boy here has the power to kill me but isn't using it because he's nothing but a stupid little weakling! See, he doesn't even have the balls to stand up for himself! He has to get this dumbass serial killer to yell at me for him because he's such a little-!"

The thing didn't get to finish its sentence before Ben violently threw it against the wall, causing the thing to let out a grunt followed by a low groan. Jeff looked at Ben wide eyed. 

Tears were streaming out of the cyber ghost's eyes, his eyes themselves significantly brighter. He was frowning and looked almost... mad? Frustrated? He was breathing heavily as he marched over to the monster, a mix of emotions visible on his face. Jeff didn't know what to do, so he simply watched him cautiously, both amazed and confused at the same time. He didn't even know the kid could get mad. 

Ben stopped once he was in front of the monster, huffing. The thing looked up at him expectantly, a small smirk playing on its lips. 

"I am not weak!" Ben shouted. "I am not stupid, and I am not going to stand here and let you tell me that I am! I've been pushed around by everybody for my entire existence! Including you j-jackasses! Well guess what? I'm done! You hear me?! I'm done being pushed around! You can't do it to me anymore!" His voice cracked slightly as he spoke the last sentence, wiping his tears away with his hand. He stood there in silence for several seconds, the only sounds audible being Ben's heavy breathing. 

Then the monster let out a low chuckle. "Then kill me." 

Ben's angry glare soon turned into one of anxiety, his eyebrows flexing upwards as he gazed down at the monster with an anxious look on his face. 

"W-What?" He stammered.

"You heard me. If you're really done with this whole being-pushed-around thing, then I say you prove it." It said. "Kill me. Right here, right now." 

Ben lifted his hands up, staring down at them as if they would get him out of this situation. It was blatantly obvious that he didn't want to do it, Jeff could tell just by looking at him. He wanted to just grab him and get him the fuck out of there, but now he knew what the monster was capable of, so all he could do was stand and watch. 

Ben looked at the thing once again, fear and anxiety and dread building up behind his eyes. He began extending a palm towards the creature, flexing his fingers outwards. 

_He's not actually gonna fucking do it, is he?_ Jeff thought as he watched, wanting to laugh at himself as soon as the thought crossed his mind. Why was it that when it came to other people killing people, he loved watching it and even encouraged it most of the time, but when it came to this kid he just... couldn't stand the thought of it? Was it because he seemed so innocent? Was it because Jeff just wanted to do it himself? He had no idea, but he didn't like this feeling at all. 

Ben's hand shook as he held it in front of the monster, who was waiting with a stoic expression on its face. Ben stared directly into its eyes, trembling. Finally, he dropped his hand and let out a sigh, letting his head fall down too. 

"No. I-I can't kill you." He stammered out. Jeff breathed a sigh of relief. _Why are you so relieved that he didn't do it? You love violence!_ He thought, frustrated. 

"Tch. Figured." The monster spoke, bowing his head down. Ben stared idly down towards the ground, his face hidden by shadows and his hair. He began slowly backing away from the creature, hands trembling. Jeff began to walk towards him, too, prepared to stab and kill this thing once and for all to keep it out of their way. 

And also so it couldn’t hurt Ben anymore, but he wouldn’t listen to that part of his brain. 

Suddenly, the creature kicked Ben's feet and caused the cyber ghost to fall. He let out a startled cry as he hit the ground. The monster picked him up by his tunic and lifted his top half off of the ground, his legs still spread awkwardly out underneath him. Jeff sprinted towards them, knife in hand, ready to slit the motherfucker's throat open. 

"Whelp, I guess I'll just have to kill you instead." The creature sneered as he lifted up the purple blade from before and pointed it at Ben's throat. "Tch, Master has always been so selfish when it comes to you... I wonder how much stronger ectoplasm from a ghost as powerful as you will make me?" 

Jeff instantly reacted and in one swift motion, grabbed Ben by the shoulder with his free hand and kicked the monster in the shoulder with his foot, sending it crashing to the ground. It dropped the blade, grunting as it made contact with the cold stone surface. Ben stumbled back and nearly fell but was caught by Jeff, who still didn't let go of his shoulder. The ghost's body was still trembling and the poor kid looked like he was on the verge of having a panic attack. 

"Hey, are you okay?" Jeff asked, giving him a gentle shake. Ben blinked and looked up at the killer, nodding. He rubbed his eyes with his hand, for they were still wet from earlier. He looked past Jeff and his eyes widened. 

"Watch out!" He yelled and suddenly threw himself into Jeff's side, causing both of them to tumble to the ground. Jeff let out a confused scream before looking up and seeing the thing trying to charge them, it's body pouncing the area they were just standing in. The creature landed in the front of the alleyway, blocking their exit. Ben lifted his head up and looked behind him while Jeff looked forward, deciding not to point out the fact that Ben was still on top of his legs despite it bothering him immensely. 

"You're not getting away this time!" The creature yelled, blade in hand.

Ben and Jeff scrambled to get up. Not having any other direction to run to, they headed for the back of the alleyway. It was a unanimous decision, they both just turned and began sprinting, not really having a plan but deciding that moving was better than just standing around. 

"What the fuck is this thing?!" Jeff called out. 

"It's a Shredder! Zalgo created them to hunt down people!" Ben said breathlessly.

"Zalgo made this motherfucker?!?"

The monster - apparently called a Shredder - swiped at them once it was close enough. Jeff could feel the air rush past his leg as the Shredder’s claws barely missed his skin. 

They both saw that the alleyway didn't end in a dead end but rather opened into some kind of back area with a parking lot. The lot had a few cars parked here and there, but nobody appeared to be in them. The area was completely desolate. Looking at the empty cars, Jeff suddenly got an idea. 

"Hey kid, you know how to deal with these things?!" Jeff yelled to Ben, nodding towards the Shredder as they sprinted through the lot.

"Kind of... why?" Ben replied between huffs.

"I have an idea! Split up!" He yelled quickly. Jeff began running off in the direction of one of the cars. Ben yelled something at him, but Jeff was too far away to hear what he was saying. 

He glanced back to see the kid now levitating above the ground, telekinetically throwing the Shredder around the parking lot. He then turned his attention back to the parking lot and stopped once he was in front of a line of cars. None of these cars were particularly eye catching except for one. A black, older Jeep model that looked as though it had been around for quite some time. The only reason it caught the killer's eye was because he had always wanted to drive a Jeep. Not necessarily own one, but drive one at least once.

Jeff bolted towards the Jeep, mentally hoping that the owner had been dumb enough to leave it unlocked. If not, he would just stab or punch the window until it broke and he could get in, but that would take up more time, something they didn't have right now. He wasn't sure how long Ben could hold that creature off, but he knew it wasn't forever. 

Jeff got to the Jeep and tried the door. To his excitement, it was actually unlocked. He got into the driver's seat and stared at the controls, trying to remember how to do this. 

The car reeked of cigarettes, distracting him for a moment. The smell reminded him of the incident... the one that had permanently disfigured him. Sneering faces of older teenage boys flashed through his head, followed by the sound of screams and the sight of flames covering his body. That horrible burning sensation, unlike anything he had ever felt before. His parent’s horrendous reaction to his face afterwards. That feeling of utter despair and pain that ate away at his brain when he got home from the hospital. 

His breaths quickened as his mind continued to play back memories of that day, the smoky smell making him want to run and hide like a little kid and stab everything in sight like an animal at the same time. 

All of that because he just wanted to protect his brother...

Jeff snapped out of it, bringing himself back to reality. _They're dead. They've been dead for a while, they can't hurt you. You killed them yourself. There’s nothing you can do about it now. You've got a fucked up monster on your ass right now, stop crying about the past and focus on that, you dumb fuck!_

He felt around underneath the steering wheel until he found the compartment that held the wires. He brought them out and stared at them. If he remembered correctly, the black one was the one that connected to the engine, but he wasn't sure. He looked around and found a paper clip and a screwdriver in the nearby cup holder. Perfect.

He took the paper clip, connected it to the wire, and used the screwdriver to turn the ignition. Amazingly, the Jeep roared to life. Jeff smiled, proud of himself and savoring the moment before remembering the Shredder. 

Triumphantly, Jeff put the Jeep in reverse and began driving it out of its parking space. He could see Ben standing before the Shredder, the thing looking pretty beat up. The kid looked like hell though - his hair was a mess, he looked like he'd started crying again at some point and his clothes looked like they had a couple of holes and scratches in them, making them look more ragged than they already did. 

Jeff stopped driving once he was close to him opened the door and stuck his head out. "Hey kid!" He yelled out. Ben looked up. Once he caught sight of Jeff, he looked at him with a mix of confusion and fascination, quickly walking towards the Jeep. 

"How the heck did you-?" Ben started but paused, panting. He bent over and placed a hand over his chest, trying to catch his breath. His body was trembling and Jeff wasn't sure if it was just the lighting around them or what, but his complexion was starting to look a little sickly.

"Easy. I've hot wired cars before. Now get your ass in here!" Jeff responded. Ben gave him a confused look before making his way over to the opposite side. Jeff noticed that his movements were significantly slower, like he was weak or exhausted. Before Ben could make it, however, the Shredder was suddenly back on its feet and charging full speed at Ben, eyes filled with burning rage. 

"Kid, look out!" Jeff yelled, hopping out of the car. Ben turned around and instantly began backing away, but his weakened state hindered his movements greatly. Jeff grabbed onto Ben and tried to pull him out of the way, but just as he was getting out of the creature's path, the thing grasped its blade once again. 

Before either of them could do anything about it, the Shredder stabbed the blade into Ben's left arm.

The blade was dragged down due to Ben's movement, creating more of a large cut than a stab. The Shredder tried to slash at him again, but Jeff glided in front of Ben and blocked the movement with his knife, their blades clashing together and momentarily sending sparks flying as the material collided. Jeff grabbed his backup knife and lunged forward, stabbing the thing right in the chest. It shrieked in pain as Jeff quickly dragged the blade down until it got to one of it's many mouths that were lined on its chest. 

Suddenly, the Shredder leaned forward and the mouth he had just attacked closed down on Jeff’s hand, it’s sharp teeth sinking into his flesh. Jeff screamed as it did so, twisting the knife around inside of its mouth, trying to stab it and get it to let go. After a second or two he was successful and the Shredder’s mouth opened, allowing Jeff to pull his now blood-covered hand away from the creature. It was now distracted by the large and vaguely deep gash that Jeff had made, glowing yellow blood gushing out onto the pavement. It roared in agony and placed a scaly hand over the wound in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding. 

Jeff was about to finish it off when he heard Ben let out a whimper behind him. He turned around and was shocked to see a black, blood-like liquid pouring out of the area the creature’s blade had hit him. He was leaning against the side of the Jeep and pressing a hand against his wound, the ink-like substance seeping between his fingers at an alarming rate. 

_That thing actually hurt him?!_ Jeff thought. _I thought he said he was bulletproof! How the fuck did some knife manage to hurt him?_

"Holy shit...!" Jeff muttered as he gaped at the blonde. Ben noticed that Jeff was looking at him and attempted to stand straighter, but his legs were shaking too badly and he wound up nearly falling to the pavement. 

"I-I'm fine, I'm fine, let's go!" Ben said as he tried to walk. His body wobbled as he moved towards the door. Jeff grabbed him by the uninjured shoulder and lifted him up, guiding him to the passenger side door. He let go and opened the door for the cyber ghost, helping him step inside. He heard a growl from behind them. Jeff turned around and saw the Shredder rising to its feet once again, it’s movements slowly due to the blood loss. 

"Keep applying pressure to that, I'm gonna finish this motherfucker!" Jeff barked before slamming the car door shut.

"Hey asshole!" Jeff yelled, attracting the creature's attention. It's head snapped up and before it could do anything to retaliate, Jeff wrapped his fingers around his backup hunter's knife, took it out of the hilt and without hesitation threw it at the Shredder. The blade spun through the air before landing directly in its third eye, right on its forehead. It howled in pain, stumbling back and clutching its face, now on the ground once again. It was very very weak at this point, Jeff didn’t think it could get up again. He silently hoped that it never got up again, this thing was annoying. 

Jeff shot one final glare at the dying beast before bolting for the opposite side of the Jeep, throwing the door open and hurtling himself in the driver's seat. He slammed the door shut and stomped his foot on the gas, leaving the Shredder in the dust behind them. 

Once he couldn't see the monster in the rear view mirrors anymore, Jeff turned his attention towards Ben. He did not look good. His skin was turning alarmingly pale and his sleeve was almost completely soaked in that black stuff, which Jeff had concluded was some kind of ghost blood. His once bright crimson eyes were now dim, not glowing nearly as brightly as they had been before. They looked unfocused and cloudy, like the kid wasn't entirely there mentally. Jeff cursed under his breath.

"Hey, kid, just hang in there, alright?" He said, turning his attention back to the road he was driving on. It was a desolate back road that was completely devoid of cars, thankfully. They were surrounded by trees with no sign of human civilization. Good. Jeff thought. Less people to get in my way. 

"Where're we going...?" Ben mumbled, his head slouching to the side slightly. 

"Away. I'll stop somewhere soon, just hold on, alright?" Jeff replied, anxiously glancing from the cyber ghost to the road. He was barely conscious, blinking and squeezing the profusely bleeding wound every few seconds in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Jeff was still super confused as to how that was even able to happen, but now was not the time to think about it. He did, however, wonder why he was so god damn concerned for this kid he'd just met, what, a day ago? Now he was treating him like he'd known him his whole life. He was trying to save a life instead of ending one. What was wrong with him?

He glanced back at Ben and felt his heart drop. The kid's eyes were now shut and his head was hanging to the side, his hand sliding away from the wound ever so slowly. His sleeve was now completely covered in inky black. 

"Kid?" Jeff yelled, making sure to be loud in order to wake the cyber ghost up. Ben didn't move. 

"Kid? Wake up, stop fucking with me."

"...Kid?"

"Ben?!"

"Ben!"

✞———————❖———————✞ 

“You think it was hunters?” Red asked as he looked at the Shredder’s body. 

Dark and Red were now together in the Over Realm, having received a report that one of the Shredders they’d brought with them was dead. It was a low-level Shredder, so it wasn’t a devastating loss, but it was still a loss nonetheless. They were standing a good distance from the body, eyeballing it from afar before approaching it. 

“Possibly.” Dark said with a shrug. “Although from the looks of it, it appeared to have been chasing something.”

“Huh? How do you know?” Red asked. Dark looked at him, annoyed. He sighed heavily. 

“Because, you idiot, it wouldn’t have abandoned its post like it did unless it was pursuing something!” Dark said. “There’s no way hunters would’ve recognized it, not with the disguise we assigned it. We made this one look like a homeless man, remember?”

Red became confused for a second before widening his eyes in realization. “Ohhh yeahhh, I forgot about that!” 

Dark shook his head and placed his fingers on the bridge of his nose. This moron was going to give him a headache...

He made his way towards the body and saw that there was both Shredder and human blood on the ground. The yellow Shredder blood was now a faded orange color due to it having been sitting there for so long. There was a dried pool of it around the Shredder but also a few drops of it a couple of feet away from it, close to where the dark reddish-brown human blood now was. 

Then Dark noticed another substance on the ground. 

Black, it appeared to have been dripping from something. It was a couple of feet away from both blood droplets. It shone in the evening light as he walked towards it, like oil would on water. 

Ectoplasm. 

“Benjamin was here.” Dark said. He bent down towards the now dried ecto, brushing two fingers over it. “That’s what the Shredder was chasing.” 

“Holy shit.” Red said with wide eyes. He glanced at the Shredder’s dead body, eyeing it curiously. He suddenly noticed something sticking out of the creature’s eye. A handle of some kind.

“Hey, look at this.” Red said, drawing Dark’s attention. The cyber ghost grasped onto the handle and yanked it out, revealing a simple hunting knife. Not a knife that one who hunted monsters would use, but a knife that one who hunted animals would use. 

“You think this belongs to a human?” Red asked. Dark stared at the knife, wondering why it looked so familiar. 

His eyes suddenly widened in recognition. 

“Let me see that.” He said quickly, taking the knife from Red’s hand and examining it. It was a small hunting knife that looked like it had been used quite a lot over the past few years. The oak-colored handle had several chips and scratches in its wood and the blade itself had several chips as well. Remnants of Shredder blood remained stained on the metal, like it had been dipped into thin paint. 

He knew who the knife belonged to. 

"I think Benjamin has found himself an ally." Dark said, masking his rising anger as best as he could. 

"Who?" Red asked. 

The shadow frowned. He had managed to find a person to travel with. But not just any person, oh no - he had managed to convince that heathen of all people to stick with him. He was going to corrupt him, Dark just knew it. Then he’d never get his favorite plaything back unless he used force. It was something he didn’t mind doing, but it wasn’t nearly as fun as talking to the child and coaxing him into going rather than knocking him out and dragging him back. How dare he be in Benjamin’s company. 

He was going to kill him whenever he found him. 

"Here's a hint: one of your proxies has dedicated her life to ending his."


	10. The Only Hope For Me is You

Earlier...

"How do you guys even survive up here during the day?" EJ exclaimed, covering his ears. "It's so... noisy." 

"Oh, come now, it's not that bad!" LJ said, leading the trio through the trail in the woods. 

"Easy for you to say. Your hearing isn't two times stronger." EJ grumbled, turning his head towards the floor. "And everything smells stronger, too. Makes me wanna vomit." 

The three of them had been in the Over Realm for at least half an hour and EJ already wanted to go back to the Under Realm. He much preferred the Over Realm at night, when there weren't as many people around or as many things going on. It was quiet, serene, and easier to hear himself think. But during the day was when everyone was awake, milling around the street or city or wherever they lived, running errands and having fun and whatnot. It meant that there would be crowds of humans together, meaning that beings like them could be very easily caught and arrested. 

"It really isn't all bad, EJ." Silver said, trying to lift his spirits. "Think of it like this; we're one step closer to finding Jeff. You two will be reunited in no time." 

EJ gave a small smile. "Thanks."

"Heads up - humans." LJ said, quickly turning invisible as a group of teenagers began heading in their direction. Silver changed their eyes from red and black to white and grey and EJ pulled his hood down over his face, making sure his hair covered his eye sockets. The group walked past them, laughing and joking about without sparing so much as a glance towards the trio. When their voices faded away, Silver looked around. 

"Okay, all clear." 

LJ reappeared, glaring in the direction that the teenagers had gone in. "Filthy maggots." The clown muttered. 

"I thought you hated children?" Silver asked, confused.

"I do." LJ replied bluntly. "Teenagers are children."

"I... okay then." Silver said, not having any argument with that statement. 

"Are you guys sure Jeff killed in this area?" EJ asked. "I don't want to have to come here during the day again."

"Yeah, I'm sure. There was a report of a gruesome murder in a neighborhood not far from here." Silver explained. "I didn't get to read the details, but this is a pretty small town. Chances are, it's Jeff." 

"Sounds like him." LJ said. "You said you were going hunting in another state, right Jack?"

"Yeah. Michigan." EJ said.

"Well, if I know Jeff, which I do, he'd pick a state that's miles away from the one you're headed to, but not so far away that he'd get himself lost." LJ said.

EJ nodded. "That sounds like him. He may be an idiot sometimes, but he's not stupid." 

The trio continued their trek through the forest, talking about odd topics that didn't have anything to do with Jeff. EJ noticed that the further they walked, the louder their surroundings became. The relative quietness of the woods was slowly becoming drowned out by the sound of cars passing by on a road and children playing outside. 

"We're starting to get into the more residential part of town, with caul-da-sacs and all that." Silver said. EJ nodded in understanding. 

"This forest isn't too far from the neighborhood. He probably came from there and then couldn't get to a portal in time before sunrise and got stuck here." LJ said. 

EJ shook his head. "Dumbass... he better not have gotten himself hurt!" 

Silver smirked. "And you say you're not the mom friend." 

EJ said nothing. Silver was about to start laughing when LJ cut them off. 

"We're here!"

"Um... what does 'here' look like?" EJ said. 

"I got you, EJ." Silver said. "It's nothing too terribly exciting, where we're standing right now is across the road from the house Jeff most likely targeted. There's a street sign that says 'Dublin Ct.' on the opposite side of the road. There's six houses in this caul-da-sac, but the one Jeff went after is the first one on the right corner." 

"How do you know he attacked that one?" EJ asked. 

"Because there's a police car in front of it and crime scene tape everywhere." 

"Oh... that'll do it." 

"Well, what're we waiting for? Let's see if we can figure out if it was Jeff or not!" LJ piped up. 

"Wait- that's most likely a patrol car, right? Is there anyone inside of it?" EJ asked. 

LJ paused for a second. "Yeah, there's an officer in there. Looks like he's guarding the house."

EJ hummed in thought. "If it's just the one, he's probably waiting for sanitation services to come and clean up the crime scene. My guess is that the bodies have already been taken away by the authorities, so he's just there to make sure that no one comes in and tampers with the crime scene."

"How are we gonna get past him?" Silver asked. 

"I think one of us should distract him, do something that'll get his attention. The rest of us will sneak into the house and see what we can find." 

"I call being the distraction!" LJ said proudly. 

EJ turned his head in his direction. "You want to distract the officer?" 

"Hell yeah! I'm the most distracting person I know! Besides, any day I can piss off an officer and get away with it is a good day." 

Silver shrugged. "I don't see why not." 

"Okay, just don't kill the guy. We don't want to attract any more unwanted attention to our existence."

"Alrighty!" LJ turned himself invisible and then proceeded to make his way towards the patrol car. 

"Good luck! And don't get caught!" EJ whisper-shouted. LJ allowed one of his arms to become visible so he could wave it in his direction in an 'I get it, shut up' type of motion, although EJ couldn't see this. 

It was quiet for a few minutes. 

Then suddenly there was a car honking. Then the sound of someone getting out of a car. LJ's laughter. A man yelling and cursing. Quick footsteps on pavement running left. 

Silence. 

"That was quick." Silver said. 

"What did he even do?" EJ asked. 

"I don't even know in all honesty. But the officer is gone now, let's go." 

The two of them quickly made their way to the house, Silver making sure that there were no other witnesses that could see them nearby. The front door was open but blocked by police tape. EJ and Silver helped each other step under it and just like that, they were inside. 

EJ could smell dried blood everywhere in the house. The stench was unmistakable, but EJ couldn't pinpoint the exact location. 

"I can smell blood, is there any of it around here?" EJ asked. 

"No, not that I can see. There is, however, a shattered glass door over here." Silver said. Their voice grew slightly distant and EJ followed the sound. 

"How is it shattered?" EJ asked. 

"From the outside in. Looks like this is where he broke in." 

EJ sighed. Dammit Jeff. He was going to have to work on stealth with him again. 

"Are there stairs?" 

"Yeah, they were close to the front door." 

Silver walked until they were able to nudge EJ with their head. They allowed the half demon to grab onto their shoulder before they began walking again. Silver began to levitate and helped EJ up the stairs, making sure he didn't trip. They then described the general area of the top of the stairs, which lead into some kind of loft. There was a broken window screen not too far from where they were standing, which Silver pointed out was probably how Jeff escaped. The smell of blood was stronger up here, EJ could practically taste it. 

"I think it's over here." EJ said. He then began walking in the direction of the smell, which turned out to be a hallway with three doors. The third and final door was where he stopped. He grabbed onto the doorknob and turned it.

The moment he did so, the metallic smell overwhelmed him. 

"Oh shit-!" Silver said the moment EJ opened the door. "If it was Jeff, he definitely massacred them. The walls are practically painted red. Well, brown now because of time and stuff, but you know what I mean." 

"Anything else?"

Silver stepped into the room. "Um... the bedsheets look like they used to be white before the victims were killed, uh... there are a couple of stab markings in the bedsheets - okay, actually, a lot of stab markings. They're kind of small though, it looks almost as though someone stabbed each and every one of their fingers off. Um... there isn't really anything else worth noting aside from that." 

EJ inhaled deeply. He could smell blood and two other fragrances - a flowery sort of smell and a heavy smell that reminded him of high school boy's locker rooms. He guessed that that would be the victim's smell. But he could smell something else, something familiar. It wasn't the blood, he knew that for sure. It was too faint to tell what exactly it was though. 

He stepped closer into the room, trying to pinpoint what exactly it was. He reached his arms out and walked until he was able to touch the bed. The sheets that may have been soft and comfortable once were now hard and stiff due to the amount of blood that stained them. He moved his hands around, trying to see if he could somehow find the other scent. He inhaled again. This time, he was able to catch onto it.

It was Jeff's hoodie. 

EJ had handled Jeff's hoodie several times, it had a very specific smell to it that he could recognize in a heartbeat - old blood, sweat, alcohol, a little bit of cigarette smoke and dog. Smile, specifically. 

"He was definitely here. I can smell him." EJ said. 

Silver nodded. "Yeah, I figured. Even though we can't see the bodies it definitely looks like something Jeff would do. He makes a huge mess every time he kills." 

EJ nodded. "Yeah. Now it's just a matter of where he is now." 

Silver sighed. "Well, it's like you said before. He may be an idiot sometimes, but he's not stupid." They reassured. "We already checked the news, no arrests have been made in this area yet. I'm sure he'll be okay." 

EJ nodded. "Yeah... I hope so." 

Silver looked at him, a puzzled look on their face. "Hey, um... can I ask you something?" 

"Shoot." EJ replied. 

"Why do you care about Jeff so much?" 

EJ turned to face them. "What?" 

"I mean- not in a rude way or anything like that! I love Jeff, but I mean... why did you decide to take him in? What makes you so devoted to finding him right now?" Silver shifted their weight from one foot to the other. "Why is he important to you?" 

EJ was silent for a few seconds, thinking. Why was he so attached to Jeff? He didn't have to rescue him off the streets like he did. He didn't have to let him stay with him for as long as he wanted to. So why did he?

EJ thought back to when he was just Jack. Just a regular med student trying to get through his 3rd year of college. He had been so naïve back then - he was smart, but sometimes he just didn't think before he acted. Hence why he was the way he was today. His stupid decisions had led to him becoming a monster. 

"...Because I want to protect him." EJ finally answered. Silver stared at him in confusion and waited for him to elaborate. 

"I was a dumb person when it came to social situations. Still kind of am. People have never really been my specialty, y'know?"

He sighed. "But... when I sensed Jeff for the first time in that alleyway... it was like I could almost see my younger self again. The me that existed before I became the me now. I 'saw' a kid who was faced with a situation that he didn't know how to handle, just like me. I may not like humans anymore, but I didn't want anyone to feel that same helplessness that I felt that day. I didn't want him to be totally helpless. So I took him in. I showed him how to fend for himself should he wind up alone, how to properly take care of wounds, that kind of thing. As time went on I guess I kind of just... grew attached to him. Like I was raising a son." 

He sighed once again. "That attachment never really went away. Even today, I still want to watch over him and make sure he's not getting himself hurt out there, even though I know he can (somewhat) handle himself. That's why I wanna find him."

Silver nodded. "That's... actually really sweet, Jack." 

EJ shook his head. "Eh... I feel like it's too mushy or soft. I don't want him to get uncomfortable. Just please do me a favor and don't tell anyone I said that, yeah?" 

"You're secret's safe with me." Silver said with a smile. 

EJ smiled back. "Thank you." 

"Of course!" 

They began walking out of the house together, making sure to be quick. As they made their way back to the woods, Silver turned to him once again. 

"Hey - for the record, I think you caring about Jeff the way you do isn't too mushy at all." 

"Really?" 

"Yeah - it's actually kind of comforting seeing you care about someone that much. It shows that you're a good guy." Silver said. EJ couldn't see it, but they were blushing as they spoke. "I don't really get to see that side of you very often. It's nice." 

EJ blushed slightly as well. "Oh, thanks - you're really nice too." 

He cringed internally after saying this. _Great job, Jack. Way to jump the gun!_

This was why talking to people wasn't his specialty - he always found a way to make things awkward. 

But to his surprise, Silver began laughing. 

"What? Why're you laughing?" EJ asked. 

Silver shook their head. "Oh, nothing. Just... I've never seen you get flustered like that before!" 

"Wh- No, no I'm not flustered, I'm fine!" EJ argued. This only caused Silver to laugh some more. 

"You totally are!" 

"I'm not-!" 

"What're you two laughing about?" LJ said as he suddenly approached the group. 

"Nothing!" EJ said quickly. Silver chuckled. 

"It's all good. What happened to the officer?" They asked. 

"Oh, I made him chase me until we got to the main road. You should've seen his face! He went 'what the hell are you?' And I went 'catch me and you'll find out!' And he fucking fell for it!" LJ cackled. "Ah, I should really do things like that more often! It's so fun!" 

EJ shook his head in disbelief. "You're impossible." 

He then began walking back onto the trail in the woods. "Well, he was definitely in the house. The place smelled like a bloodbath."

"He can't be too far from here, right?" LJ said. 

"I hope so..." EJ trailed off. 

_Jeff, wherever you are, please be safe. Please don't be hurt or in danger._

_Please..._

✞———————❖———————✞ 

Now

Jeff gazed out the Jeep's front window, lost in thought. So much had just happened - he successfully stole a car, he fought a monster, and he had driven top speed down a road and into some random parking lot. He hadn't even been paying attention when he pulled into the lot, he had been too focused on his newly found companion in the passenger seat beside him. 

Holy shit, had it been a day. 

Jeff eyed his passenger worriedly. Ben remained unconscious and still looked pretty pale, but the steady rise and fall of his chest reassured Jeff that although injured, he was alive. 

Well, as alive as a ghost can get, anyway. 

It was now late at night and after a brief observation, Jeff figured out that he had parked next to a hotel. The second he'd parked the Jeep, he'd instantly tried to wake Ben again, but all of his attempts had been futile. There weren't any actual bandages or first aid kits or anything like that in the Jeep, but there was an old t-shirt that had been haphazardly thrown into the backseat that Jeff was able to cut and use as a makeshift bandage. He'd done his best to dress the wound, making sure to stop the bleeding. He wasn't an expert when it came to this kind of thing, but he did vaguely remember what EJ did each time he or somebody else got injured. He just hoped that it was enough to help the kid. 

He watched Ben's sleeping body, eyeing the oddly peaceful look on the cyber ghost's face. He remembered how harsh that creature had sounded when talking to him, how hostile. 

Is that how all of them treated him down there? Jeff wondered. Why the fuck was it yelling at him like that? And he looked terrified of the thing... how many times has he had to deal with assholes like that?

The killer wanted to punch himself for thinking like this. _Whatever happened to "keeping your fucking distance," huh?_ He thought to himself. _You told yourself that you wouldn't get attached to him. You're gonna have to leave him soon. So why the fuck are you being so protective over this little shit?! It's a fucking miracle that you haven't killed Eyeless yet, but it's gonna happen soon. You know it is. It always does. You lose control of your emotions and you hurt everyone you care about because you're a little bitch baby who doesn't know how to handle shit. Look at what happened to your friends! Not to mention your parents and your-_

Jeff stopped thinking. His eyes widened as he looked at Ben, realization dawning on him. 

_Brother..._

The killer suddenly knew why he was so attached to the cyber ghost. 

And suddenly, he didn't seem like such bad company after all.


End file.
